LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

IN  MHMORY  (IF 

STEWART  S.  HOWE 

[OURNALISM  CLASS  OF  1928 


STEWART  S.  HOWE  FOUNDATION 


B 

D31  ?.!  w 

I  .H.S. 


WILLIAM   DEERING 


WILLIAM  DEERING 


BORN  IN  MAINE,  1826 
DIED  IN  FLORIDA,  1913 


CHICAGO 

PRIVATELY  PRINTED 

1914 


V. 


w 


William  Deering,  in  1899,  in  the 
seventy-third  year  of  his  aye 


d 


FOREWORD 

It  will  be  obvious  that  this  book  is  a  com- 
pilation made  from  various  sources.  It  was 
made  immediately  after  Mr.  Deering's  death. 
From  the  nature  of  the  material  and  the 
haste  of  the  work  it  has  been  impossible 
to  avoid  many  repetitions,  which,  though 
regrettable,  were  nevertheless  unavoidable. 
Inaccuracies  also  doubtless  will  be  found. 


WILLIAM   DEERING 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

William  Deering,  son  of  James  and  Eliza  (Moore) 
Deering,  was  born  at  South  Paris,  Maine,  April  25, 1826. 
He  was  educated  at  the  local  schools  and  at  the  Read- 
field  Seminary,  Maine.  He  had  begun  the  study  of 
medicine  under  the  celebrated  Doctor  Barrows  of  Frye- 
burg,  when  his  father,  in  charge  of  the  woolen  mill  at 
Paris,  needing  his  assistance,  he  postponed  the  study  of 
medicine,  as  he  then  supposed,  for  a  year.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  a  long  business  career  that  proved  a 
very  successful  one  of  exceptionally  far-reaching  results. 

Among  the  various  business  pursuits  that  Mr. 
Deering  followed  were  large  dealings  in  the  lands  of 
what  was  then  the  far  and  sparsely  settled  West. 
With  a  far-sightedness  that  was  characteristic  of  the 
man,  he  early  foresaw  a  great  future  for  these  fertile 
lands,  and  for  several  years  dealt  heavily  in  them, 
particularly  in  those  of  Illinois  and  Iowa. 

His  wife's  failing  health  caused  him  to  abandon  the 
business  and  return  with  her  to  Maine.  Later,  with 
Mr.  Seth  M.  Milliken,  he  founded  the  woolen-goods 
commission  house  of  Deering,  Milliken  &Co.,  of  Port- 
land, Boston,  and  New  York,  now  under  Mr.  Milliken, 
the  largest  house  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 

In  the  early  seventies,  his  health  being  somewhat 
impaired,  he  had  retired  from  active  business  when, 
almost  by  accident,  he  entered  into  what  proved  to 
be  his  main  life  work.     The  prairies  of  the  West  were 

9 


lo  WILLIAM   DEERING 

then  better  known  than  twenty  years  before,  and  set- 
tlers were  taking  up  the  lands  and  planting  them  to 
wheat  and  other  grains.  The  yield  was  great,  but 
the  harvesters  were  few. 

For  years  attempts  had  been  made  to  reap  grain  by 
horse-drawn  machinery,  and  Hussey,  McCormick,  and 
others  had  invented  more  or  less  successful  reapers. 
In  1873  reaping  machines  for  grain  and  mowing  ma- 
chines for  grass  w^ere  in  use,  and  railways  were  follow- 
ing the  reaping  machine  as  fast  as  the  western  lands 
could  be  rendered  productive.  This  machine  cut  the 
grain  and  laid  it  in  gavels  automatically,  and  men  on 
foot  followed,  binding  the  sheaves. 

Some  years  previous,  two  brothers,  Charles  W.  and 
William  W.  Marsh,  of  Sycamore,  Illinois,  had  devised  a 
machine  that  cut  and  elevated  the  grain  to  two  men 
who  rode  on  the  machine  and  bound  the  grain  into 
bundles  which  they  threw  to  the  ground,  where  it  was 
piled  into  shocks.  This  machine  was  bitterly  opposed 
by  the  numerous  manufacturers  of  the  reaper.  Those 
interested  in  the  new  device  had  little  money,  and  their 
opponents  were  mostly  rich,  prosperous,  and  firmly 
established;  it  had  been  an  uphill  and  discouraging 
fight  for  the  Marsh  brothers  and  their  backers. 

Mr.  Deering  had  lent  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
to  a  friend  in  Chicago  who  had  an  interest  in  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  these  machines,  and,  the  friend's  ill- 
health  necessitating  a  rest,  he  asked  Mr.  Deering  to 
superintend  the  business  for  three  months  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1873.  This  was  a  turning  point  in  the  agricul- 
tural machine  business.  Mr.  Deering,  with  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  western  country  and  its  needs,  foresaw  what 
a  saving  of  labor  and  what  a  growth  of  the  country  this 
machine  foreshadowed  if  it  could  be  perfected. 

Neither   inventor    nor    mechanic    himself,    he    em- 


WILLIAM   DEERING  ii 

ployed  the  best  of  both;  the  machine  was  improved 
and  soon  was  being  manufactured  in  great  numbers, 
all  of  the  manufacturers  of  reapers  being  compelled 
to  imitate  it  and  follow  in  its  manufacture.  But  still 
the  supply  of  labor  was  inadequate  for  the  fast  increas- 
ing farms,  and  it  became  Mr.  Deering's  object  to  re- 
place the  human  binders  with  automatic  ones.  This, 
under  his  direction,  was  accomplished  successfully  by 
a  wire  binder;  but  there  were  objections  to  wire,  and 
in  his  shops  was  perfected  a  binder  using  twine,  in- 
vented by  J.  F.  Appleby.  There  was  no  suitable 
twine  manufactured  until,  through  Mr.  Deering's 
persuasions,  Mr.  Edwin  H.  Fitler  of  Philadelphia,  a 
large  manufacturer  of  rope,  after  much  experimenting, 
succeeded  in  spinning  a  single  strand  twine  from 
manila.  This  was  the  small  beginning  of  what  is  now 
a  very  large  industry,  and  the  twine  thus  produced, 
after  the  other  leading  manufacturers  had  declined  to 
undertake  its  production  as  chimerical  and  as  wanted 
for  a  machine  probably  impractical,  now  binds  the 
grains  of  the  civilized  world  and  renders  possible  the 
gathering  of  its  enormous  crops. 

From  the  time  of  the  success  of  the  twine  binder, 
all  other  agricultural-implement  makers  imitated  it 
and  followed  in  its  manufacture.  As  soon  as  Mr. 
Deering  became  familiar  with  his  new  business,  he 
became  the  leader  of  the  other  makers.  Spurred  on 
by  him,  his  engineers  improved  the  machines  of  the 
day  and  devised  new  ones.  Wrought  iron  and  steel 
replaced  cast  iron  and  wood,  weight  and  draft  were 
reduced  and  endurance  and  life  prolonged;  and  it  may 
be  said  that,  of  all  manufacturers,  the  farming  world 
is  most  indebted  to  him  for  the  progress  made  after 
the  day  of  the  first  reapers. 

Mr.  Deering  early  saw  the  possibilities  of  the  ex- 


12  WILLIAM   DEERING 

plosion  engine,  and  in  1900  exhibited  at  the  Paris 
Exposition  the  first  motor-mower  ever  made;  there, 
for  his  services  to  agriculture,  he  was  made  an  Officer 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor  by  the  French  government. 

In  1901  Mr.  Deering  suffered  his  first  serious  illness, 
and  soon  thereafter  gave  the  active  charge  of  his  busi- 
ness into  the  hands  of  his  two  sons  and  his  son-in-law. 

At  the  end  of  his  business  Hfe  Mr.  Deering  saw  in  his 
employ  many  thousand  men,  and  many  more  thousands 
as  agents  for  his  machinery,  and  the  business  extended 
to  all  parts  of  the  world  where  grain  is  grown.  His 
company  had  provided  for  the  future  with  its  own  iron 
mines,  blast  furnaces,  and  steel  mills;  with  vast  coking 
coal  fields  and  still  more  extensive  timber  tracts  for- 
ested on  scientific  principles;  and  for  years  the  company 
had  made  its  own  large  supply  of  binder  twine. 

In  1902  the  Deering  Harvester  Company  was 
merged  in  the  International   Harvester  Company. 

After  his  illness  of  1901  Mr.  Deering  recovered  a 
large  measure  of  health  and  administered  his  own 
affairs,  while  giving  much  time  and  wise  counsel  to 
institutions  of  education  and  charity;  for  Mr.  Deer- 
ing's  unusually  active  business  life  had  not  prevented 
interest  in  matters  of  public  welfare,  and  he  had  been 
interested  largely  in  educational  and  worthy  charities. 
He  was  many  years  president  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  Northwestern  University,  and  also  of  the  allied 
Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  and  he  is  named  as  founder 
of  the  Wesley  Hospital  in  Chicago. 

He  gave  generously  to  works  of  education  and 
charity  throughout  his  life;  his  gifts  of  one  kind  and 
another  to  the  Northwestern  University  and  its  theo- 
logical school  were  large.  To  Wesley  Hospital  he 
gave  generously,  as  he  did  to  all  charities  and  good 
works  in  which  he  was  interested. 


WILLIAxM   DEERING  13 

In  1912  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1913  it  became  evident  that  his  robust  constitution 
was  yielding  to  his  length  of  years.  His  mind  was  clear 
and  his  friends  were  known  and  welcomed  almost  to 
his  last  day.  He  died  at  Cocoanut  Grove  in  southern 
Florida  on  the  ninth  of  December,  1913,  in  the  eighty- 
eighth  year  of  his  life.  Funeral  services  were  held 
at  Cocoanut  Grove  on  the  tenth,  and  at  Evanston, 
Illinois,  on  the  fourteenth,  of  December. 

Mr.  Deering  married  in  1849  Abby  Reed  Barbour. 
Of  this  marriage  was  born  Charles  Deering,  who  sur- 
vives his  father. 

In  1856  he  married  Clara  Cummings  Hamilton,  who 
survives  him.  Of  this  marriage  were  born  James 
Deering,  who  still  lives,  and  Abby  Deering,  who  married 
Richard  F.  Howe  in  1898  and  died  in  1906. 


WILLIAM   DEERING 


ANOTHER   HISTORICAL   SKETCH 

William  Deering  was  born  at  South  Paris,  Maine, 
on  April  25,  1826,  of  a  Puritan  family  established 
in  this  country  in  1634.  He  was  educated  at  Read- 
field  Seminary  in  Maine,  and  began  the  study  of 
medicine  at  Fryeburg,  Maine.  His  father,  then  presi- 
dent of  the  South  Paris  Manufacturing  Company, 
engaged  in  making  woolen  cloths,  needing  his  help, 
he  gave  up  the  study  of  medicine  and  entered  com- 
mercial life. 

In  1849  he  married  Abby  Barbour,  who  died  in 
1856,  leaving  him  one  child,  Charles  Deering,  who  sur- 
vives his  father. 

After  some  years  spent  in  his  native  town  as  manu- 
facturer and  merchant,  he  became  interested  in  western 
farming  lands,  of  which  he  became  a  large  owner.  In 
1853  and  the  years  following  he  traveled  extensively  in 
the  primitive  western  country  of  that  day,  especially 
in  Illinois  and  Iowa.  At  this  time  he  made  a  number 
of  sojourns  in  Chicago. 

After  the  death  of  his  first  wife  he  returned  to  South 
Paris  and  engaged  in  business  for  several  years.  At  this 
time  he  married  his  second  wife,  Clara  Hamilton,  who 
survives  him.  The  children  of  this  marriage  are 
James  Deering,  who  survives  his  father,  and  Abby 
Deering,  who  married  Richard  F.  Howe,  and  died  in 
1906. 

In  1865,  with  Seth  M.  Milliken,  he  formed  in  Port- 

15 


i6  WILLIAM   DEERING 

land,  Maine,  the  firm  of  Deering,  Milliken  &  Co.,  to 
engage  in  the  business  of  manufacturing  and  selling 
dry  goods.  Branches  were  soon  established  in  Boston 
and  New  York.  The  New  York  business  eventually 
swallowed  that  of  the  other  cities  and,  under  its  original 
name  of  Deering,  Milliken  &  Co.,  is  one  of  the  largest 
dry-goods  commission  houses  in  the  country.  Because 
of  ill-health  Mr.  Deering  retired  from  this  firm  in  1870. 

Visiting  Chicago  again  in  this  year,  he  met  an 
acquaintance  from  Maine,  E.  H.  Gammon,  who  was 
engaged  in  selling  agricultural  machinery.  With  him 
he  formed  the  firm  of  Gammon  and  Deering,  which 
later  became  Gammon,  Deering  &  Steward.  Lewis 
Steward  was  well  known  in  Illinois  as  manufacturer, 
farm  owner,  and  congressman.  In  1879  Mr.  Deering 
became  the  sole  owner  of  the  business. 

In  1870  Mr.  Gammon's  chief  business  was  the  selling 
of  the  Marsh  harvester.  In  1879  Mr.  Deering  was 
the  sole  manufacturer  of  this  harvesting  machine. 
The  Marsh  harvester  was  one  of  the  great  steps  in 
the  evolution  of  harvesting  grain  by  machinery.  On  it 
two  men  rode  to  bind  the  cut  grain  into  gavels,  which 
they  threw  to  the  ground.  These  two  men  did  the 
work  of  the  six  who  had  followed  the  reaper  on  foot  to 
bind  the  grain  which  it  deposited  on  the  ground. 

To  the  Marsh  harvester  was  later  attached  the  auto- 
matic binder,  which  did  by  machinery  the  work  of  the 
two  men  who  previously  had  been  mounted  on  the 
machine.  It  was  in  1879  and  1880  that  Mr.  Deering, 
at  the  risk  of  his  fortune,  against  the  advice  of  some  of 
his  associates,  and  amid  the  jeers  of  his  competitors, 
manufactured  and  put  on  the  market  the  grain  binder 
invented  by  J.  F.  Appleby,  which  automatically 
bound  the  sheaves  with  twine.  This  machine  lacked 
much  in  the  first  years  of  being  a  complete  success,  and 


WILLIAM   DEERING  17 

for  a  time  fortune  hung  in  the  balance.  Mr.  Deering's 
energy,  determination,  and  genius  finally  won  their 
triumph.  To-day  almost  all  of  the  grain  harvested 
by  machinery  throughout  the  entire  world  is  gathered 
by  the  machine  that  he,  almost  alone,  said  should  and 
must  succeed. 

This  success  has  been  very  great,  but  it  was  jeop- 
ardized in  its  infancy  by  the  apparent  impossibility  of 
finding  a  twine  adapted  to  use  on  the  twine  binder. 
Mr.  Deering  induced  the  late  Edwin  H.  Fitler  of 
Philadelphia,  no  little  against  his  will,  to  make  an  exper- 
imental lot  of  single  fibre  twine  from  the  manila  fibre, 
and  thus  solved  the  difficulty,  while  creating  the 
opportunity  for  the  founding  of  a  new  and  great  Ameri- 
can industry.  To-day  more  fibre  is  used  in  binder 
twine  than  in  rope.  To  this  binder  and  this  twine, 
together  with  the  railways,  is  due  the  rapid,  almost 
miraculous  development  of  the  great  West,  where  the 
acres  were  many  and  the  laborers  few. 

Mr.  Deering,  who  had  lived  in  Evanston  since  1874, 
removed  his  manufactory  from  Piano  to  its  present  site 
at  Fullerton  and  Clybourn  avenues,  Chicago,  in  1880. 
There  the  business  grew  until  it  employed  9CXX)  people, 
had  sixty  branch  offices  in  America,  and  occupied  an 
army  of  employees  in  distributing  its  products  in  all  the 
civilized  world  where  grain  and  grass  are  grown. 

Mr.  Deering  admitted  his  two  sons  and  his  son-in- 
law  to  partnership  in  the  business.  In  1901  he  retired 
from  active  work,  after  which  he  spent  the  larger  part 
of  each  year  at  his  winter  home  at  Cocoanut  Grove, 
Florida.  In  1902  the  Deering  Harvester  Company  was 
merged  with  the  International  Harvester  Company. 

Mr.  Deering  was  endowed  with  the  greatest  gifts  of 
mind,  body,  and  heart.  He  was  a  most  ardent  pro- 
gressive, tireless  and  even  financially  extravagant  in 


i8  WILLIAM   DEERING 

his  efforts  for  progress  in  harvesting  machinery.  He 
was  an  endless  worker,  who  never  acknowledged  fatigue 
or  failure.  His  gifts  to  education  and  charity,  espe- 
cially to  the  Northwestern  University,  to  the  Garrett 
Biblical  Institute,  of  whose  boards  of  trustees  for 
many  years  he  was  president,  and  to  the  Wesley 
Hospital,  of  Chicago,  were  very  large.  He  was  a  de- 
voted member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  was  honored  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him  for 
his  extraordinary  ability,  his  simplicity,  and  his  kindly 
nature. 


SERVICES 

at  the  Funeral  of 

WILLIAM  DEERING 

held  in 

First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

in  the  City  of  Evanston,  Illinois 

on 

Sunday,  December  14,  A.  D.  1913 

at  two  o'clock 


SERVICES  AT  THE   FUNERAL 

Hymn  No.  577  St.  Anne 

O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past, 
Our  hope  for  years  to  come. 

Our  shelter  from  the  stormy  blast 
And  our  eternal  home. 

Under  the  shadow  of  Thy  throne 

Still  may  we  dwell  secure; 
Sufficient  is  Thy  arm  alone, 

And  our  defense  is  sure. 

Before  the  hills  in  order  stood, 
Or  earth  received  her  frame. 

From  everlasting  Thou  art  God, 
To  endless  years  the  same. 

A  thousand  ages  in  Thy  sight 

Are  like  an  evening  gone; 
Short  as  the  watch  that  ends  the  night. 

Before  the  rising  sun. 

The  busy  troops  of  flesh  and  blood. 
With  all  their  cares  and  fears. 

Are  carried  downward  by  the  flood, 
And  lost  in  flowing  years. 

Time,  like  an  ever-rolling  stream, 

Bears  all  its  sons  away; 
They  fly  forgotten,  as  a  dream 

Dies  at  the  opening  day. 
21 


22  WILLIAM   DEERING 

O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past, 
Our  hope  for  years  to  come. 

Be  Thou  our  Guide  while  life  shall  last, 
And  our  eternal  home. 

Prayer:  The  Reverend  Dr.  Charles  M.  Stuart 

Out  of  the  depths  we  cry  unto  thee,  O  Lord.  Lord, 
hear  our  supplication.  We  thank  thee  as  the  Fountain 
of  Love;  and  in  thy  love  shall  we  see  life. 

We  wait  for  thee  and  in  thy  Word  do  we  hope. 
Our  souls  wait  for  thee  more  than  they  that  watch  for 
the  morning. 

O  send  out  thy  light  and  thy  truth;  let  them  lead  us 
and  let  thy  divine  mercy  come  unto  us  that  we  may 
live;  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.     Amen. 

Scripture  Reading: 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Charles  M.  Stuart 

"Blessed  be  thou.  Lord  God  of  Israel  our  father,  for 
ever  and  ever. 

"Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness,  and  the  power,  and 
the  glory,  and  the  victory,  and  the  majesty:  for  all 
that  is  in  the  heaven  and  in  the  earth  is  thine;  thine  is 
the  kingdom,  O  Lord,  and  thou  art  exalted  as  head 
above  all. 

"Both  riches  and  honour  come  of  thee,  and  thou 
reignest  over  all;  and  in  thine  hand  is  power  and  might; 
and  in  thine  hand  it  is  to  make  great,  and  to  give 
strength  unto  all. 

"We  are  all  the  work  of  thy  hand. 

"Thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  thou  rulest  over  all. 

"Thou,  O  Lord,  art  our  father,  our  redeemer;  thy 
name  is  from  everlasting. 

"Thou  hast  been  a  strength  to  the  poor,  a  strength 


WILLIAM   DEERING  23 

to  the  needy  in  his  distress,  a  refuge  from  the  storm,  a 
shadow  from  the  heat. 

"Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord;  they  rest 
from  labor  and  the  reward  of  their  works  is  with  them. 

"  Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man 
fallen  this  day  in  Israel.'* 

"All  ye  that  are  about  him,  bemoan  him;  and  all  ye 
that  know  his  name,  say.  How  is  the  strong  staff  broken, 
and  the  beautiful  rod! 

"And  Job  said,  O  that  I  might  be  as  I  was  in  the 
brightness  of  my  day,  in  the  days  when  God  watched 
over  me,  when  the  light  of  heaven  shone  round  about 
my  head,  and  when  by  his  light  I  w^alked  through 
darkness. 

"  I  put  on  righteousness,  and  it  clothed  me;  my  judg- 
ment was  as  a  robe  and  a  crown. 

"When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me;  and 
when  the  eye  saw  me,  it  gave  witness  to  me: 

"Because  I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and  the 
fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 

"I  was  a  father  to  the  needy,  to  the  fatherless  also, 
and  to  him  that  was  helpless. 

"I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame. 

"The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  me:  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy. 

"Surely  blessed  is  he  who  maketh  Jehovah  his  trust, 
and  setteth  God  at  his  right  hand. 

"Lord,  who  shall  abide  in  thy  tabernacle.''  who  shall 
dwell  in  thy  holy  hill.? 

"He  that  walketh  uprightly,  and  worketh  righteous- 
ness, and  speaketh  the  truth  in  his  heart;  who  doeth 
no  evil  to  his  neighbor,  nor  taketh  up  a  reproach 
against  his  neighbor;  who  despiseth  wickedness,  and 
honoreth  all  who  fear  Jehovah:  for  all  such  shall  come 
together  and  sing  in  the  height  of  Zion. 


24  WILLIAM   DEERING 

"They  shall  flow  together  in  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord.  Their  soul  shall  be  as  a  watered  garden;  and 
they  shall  not  sorrow  any  more  at  all. 

"I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,  con- 
cerning them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow  not, 
even  as  others  which  have  no  hope. 

"For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again, 
even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring 
with  him. 

"Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood  can- 
not inherit  the  kingdom  of  God;  neither  doth  cor- 
ruption inherit  incorruption. 

"Behold,  I  shew  you  a  mystery:  We  shall  not  all 
sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed, 

"In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the 
last  trump:  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead 
shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be  changed. 

"For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and 
this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality. 

"So  when  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on  incor- 
ruption, and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortal- 
ity, then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is 
written.  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory. 

"0  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  ? 

"Thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"Wherefore,  brethren,  comfort  one  another  with 
these  words." 

Words  of  Tribute:     Bishop  William Fraser McDowell 

Many  of  you  to-day  will  remember  the  addresses 
spoken  by  Dr.  Little  when  Frances  Willard  and  Orring- 
ton  Lunt  were  being  buried;  and  we  shall  regret  afresh 
the  too  early  death  that  took  away  from  us  the  one  man 


WILLIAM   DEERING  25 

best  fitted  by  every  gift  and  every  insight  and  every 
experience  to  speak  to-day  of  William  Deering,  who 
has  now  entered  the  life  everlasting. 

Indeed,  the  death  of  this  man  makes  us  conscious  all 
over  again  of  other  losses  we  have  sustained.  His 
death  not  only  makes  its  own  wound  and  causes  its 
own  sharp  pain:  it  reopens  other  wounds,  the  wounds 
that  really  never  heal  in  this  life.  We  see  again  the 
whole  circle  as  it  was  before  it  began  to  break,  and  we 
feel  again,  as  we  did  aforetime  with  him,  every  break 
that  came.  And  to-day  we  stand  in  what  was  our 
ancient  and  noble  forest  of  mighty  men  and  weep  over 
the  many  who  have  fallen  even  while  we  rejoice  over 
the  few  still  left  standing  almost  alone.  Heaven  bless 
them! 

If  Mr.  Deering  could  speak,  he  would  command  me 
to  refrain  from  praise  or  eulogy  of  him.  And  we  are 
wholly  unprepared  to  make  that  analysis  which  in 
time  may  sum  up  our  final  opinion  of  him.  We  have 
been  expecting  during  many  months  that  he  would 
slip  away,  but  now  that  he  is  gone  we  discover  that  we 
were  not  ready  for  it  after  all.  We  are  carrying  to-day, 
therefore,  rather  a  heavy  cargo  of  emotion  and  sorrow; 
we  seem  pressed  upon  by  an  unusual  cloud  of  witnesses; 
voices  long  silent  and  faces  long  absent  are  in  our  ears 
and  before  our  eyes,  so  that  restrained  and  careful 
speech  is  difficult  and  impossible.  Yesterday  a  good 
man  sat  in  my  home  and  among  other  things  said: 
"I  would  like  to  have  witnessed  the  greeting  Mr.  Deer- 
ing received  from  the  others — from  Dr.  Davis,  Mr. 
Lunt,  Mr.  Gammon,  Hugh  Wilson,  Mr.  Miller,  Dr. 
Little,  Dr.  Bonbright  and  a  great  host  besides."  And 
that  suggestion  does  not  add  to  one's  mental  com- 
posure. 

Still,  while  we  may  not  praise  Mr.  Deering's  acts — 


26  WILLIAM   DEERING 

he  would  forbid  it — yet  we  may  say  a  few  words  for 
our  own  comfort.  With  long  Hfe  God  satisfied  him. 
He  was  permitted  to  see  the  world's  advancement  as 
it  is  not  given  to  many  to  see  it.  He  was  enabled  to 
work  out  his  own  life  to  an  unusual  degree.  The  things 
he  began  he  was  allowed  largely  to  complete.  He  saw 
his  personal  plans  come  to  immense  success.  And  he 
made  his  own  notable  contributions  to  that  larger 
Hfe — larger  life  in  industry,  in  commerce,  in  education, 
in  philanthropy  and  in  religion — which  has  come  in  the 
years  since  he  was  born  yonder  in  Maine,  fourscore 
and  seven  years  ago. 

In  view  of  what  he  has  actually  achieved  in  the 
line  of  life  he  followed,  it  is  rather  interesting  to 
know  that  more  than  once  in  these  later  years  he 
referred  tenderly,  almost  wistfully  and  longingly,  to 
an  early  ambition  to  be  a  country  doctor.  He  began 
the  study  of  medicine  in  his  youth  and  was  obliged 
to  give  it  up.  And  once  at  least  he  was  heard  to  ex- 
press the  hope  that  in  character  and  ministry  to 
human  life  he  might  have  been  such  a  physician  as 
his  dear  friend,  the  late  Dr.  Nathan  Davis.  He  saw 
in  that  noble  man  and  great  physician  what  he  liked  to 
think  he  himself  might  have  been. 

In  this  long  Hfe  he  measured  himself  against  mighty 
forces  and  able  men  and  was  not  beaten  by  these  forces 
nor  overmatched  by  the  men  he  met.  The  industrial 
and  commercial  movements  of  the  world  in  the  years 
of  his  active  life  cast  up  on  the  shores  many  a  wreck — 
wreck  of  fortune,  wreck  of  life,  wreck  of  manhood  and 
morals.  He  saw  many  of  these  pitiful  disasters  and 
knew  the  forces  that  had  caused  them.  He  saw  men 
yielding  to  the  fierce  pressure  to  win  success  by 
surrender  of  principle,  to  gain  wealth  at  the  cost  of 
integrity.      No  man  has  gone  through  fifty  or  even 


WILLIAM   DEERING  27 

twenty  years  of  modern  business  without  feeling  that 
pressure. 

In  this  silent  presence  to-day  I  want  to  thank  God  not 
for  him  alone  but  for  the  many  who  have  come  through 
and  are  coming  through  with  hands  clean  and  char- 
acters unbroken.  The  wonder  is  not  that  so  many 
break,  but  that  so  many  stand  and  finally  ascend  into 
the  hill  of  the  Lord. 

Mr.  Deering  had  those  qualities  that  we  associate 
with  Puritan  New  England.  Roundly  speaking,  the 
first  half  of  his  life  was  spent  in  New  England,  the  last 
half  of  it  in  Chicago  and  vicinity.  But  his  Puritan 
principles  took  root  in  this  soil,  even  though  he  was 
transplanted  when  he  was  forty-four  years  of  age.  He 
was  never  anything  else  in  heart,  through  all  his 
long  life,  than  a  Puritan.  He  loved  righteousness  and 
hated  iniquity  like  a  Puritan.  He  loved  simplicity  and 
hated  ostentation  and  waste  like  a  Puritan.  And  he 
applied  these  principles  to  himself  even  more  vigorously 
than  to  others.  His  life  was  long,  and  even  to  the  end 
he  never  quite  came  to  see  either  for  himself  or  for  in- 
stitutions certain  great  and  inevitable  changes  that  had 
come. 

These  New  England  qualities  are  great  qualities  at 
their  best.  He  knew  their  limitations.  We  know 
them.  But  it  will  be  a  bad  day  for  the  Republic  when 
the  industry,  thrift,  integrity,  and  intensity  of  Puri- 
tanism die  among  us.  The  Puritan  regard  for  law,  the 
Puritan  love  of  liberty,  the  Puritan  belief  in  humanity, 
and  the  Puritan  faith  in  God  have  their  permanent 
place  in  a  well-ordered  life.  It  is  easy  for  us  to  recall 
only  the  narrowness  and  the  hardness  which  we  asso- 
ciate with  the  Puritan  character.  Shallowness  and 
softness  are  a  poor  substitute  for  these  stronger,  even 
though  sterner,  virtues. 


28  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Mr.  Deering  did  not  have  all  the  qualities  of  all  men. 
More  than  once  in  intimate  fellowship  he  said  to  his 
friend  that  he  lacked  certain  qualities  which  he  ad- 
mired and  which  he  wished  he  possessed. 

But  the  qualities  he  did  have  he  really  had;  had  them 
as  an  oak  has  its  qualities,  or  as  a  tall,  straight  pine,  or 
as  a  mountain  of  New  England  granite.  And  he  never 
pretended  to  be  anything  he  was  not.  You  can  look 
through  all  his  long,  open  life  for  any  hypocrisy  and  not 
find  it.  We  knew  where  we  should  find  him  and  what 
we  should  find  when  we  found  him. 

He  did  not  always  do  the  things  many  of  us  wanted 
him  to  do  and  thought  he  ought  to  do.  It  is  rather 
easy  for  us  to  see  duty  for  other  men;  easy  to  have  a 
philosophy  for  other  people's  conduct,  and  a  liberality 
with  other  people's  possessions.  Mr.  Deering  lived 
his  own  life,  and  I  think  we  all  agree  that  he  never 
struck  a  false  note,  a  note  false  to  his  own  character. 
His  life  was  all  of  one  piece  in  public  and  in  private. 

During  this  long  life  he  was  vitally  related  not  only 
to  great  principles  but  to  great  movements.  The  in- 
dustrial world  underwent  radical  change  in  his  time. 
He  was  in  and  of  that  change,  not  as  one  idly  floating 
with  the  current,  but  as  one  helping  to  guide  and  deter- 
mine its  course.  He  has  put  his  name  in  that  short  list 
of  those  who  have  influenced  industry  mightily  over 
wide  areas. 

He  has  seen  the  philanthropy  of  the  world  in  its 
most  marked  development.  And  again  he  has  had  his 
hand  in  bringing  about  that  development.  Wesley 
Hospital  would  not  have  been  built  when  it  was  and  as 
it  was  if  it  had  not  been  for  William  Deering.  It  is 
not  hard  to  see  again  here  the  outcropping  of  that  early 
interest  in  medicine  which  remained  a  lifelong  interest. 
He  meant  to  give  his  life  to  healing  the  sick,  to  the 


WILLIAM   DEERING  29 

alleviation  of  human  suffering  and  the  banishment  of 
disease.  He  might  have  been  a  country  doctor  of  the 
old  school,  leaving  behind  him  at  last  the  single  prac- 
titioner's list  of  grateful  and  happy  patients.  He 
thought  it  a  strange  providence,  rather  a  hard  provi- 
dence, that  kept  him  from  that  career;  but,  in  connec- 
tion with  others,  he  has  already  made,  and  through  the 
years  will  continue  to  make,  a  contribution  to  health  and 
the  cure  of  disease  that  no  single  life  could  accomplish. 

Through  Wesley  Hospital  and  in  related  ways  he 
has  done  those  vastly  greater  things  by  bringing  the 
skill  and  service  of  the  many  to  the  need  of  the  ailing 
multitude.  He  has  been  more  a  physician,  after  all, 
than  even  in  his  largest  young  dream  he  ever  fancied  he 
might  be.  And  this  is  one  of  God's  good  ways  of 
bringing  compensations  to  men. 

He  held  his  own  place  among  a  great  company. 
Looking  backward  over  our  local  history  it  is  easy  to 
see  the  tall  figures  of  the  men  who  made  that  history. 
This  is  no  place  to  name  them,  though  their  radiant 
names  fairly  leap  to  our  lips.  But  there  were  giants 
in  those  days — giants  of  faith,  giants  of  courage,  giants 
in  high  endeavor.  They  had  empires  in  their  brains. 
They  were  the  pioneers  in  days  when. pioneering  was 
hard  and  exacting.  Things  that  we  take  for  granted, 
things  that  now  look  easy,  those  men  achieved  against 
fearful  odds. 

And  among  that  company,  not  himself  one  of  the 
earliest  of  them,  but  truly  of  them,  William  Deering, 
by  his  ability,  his  devotion,  his  courage,  his  faith,  won 
high  and  honored  and  permanent  place.  His  name 
must  always  stand  in  our  foremost  list. 

He  never  lost  his  interest  in  the  religious  life  of  the 
great  city  whose  growth  he  had  seen  and  whose  power 
he  had  felt.     Its  vast  population,  native  and  foreign, 


30  WILLIAM   DEERING 

deeply  interested  him  from  the  rehgious  viewpoint. 
He  had  small  confidence  in  certain  popular  measures 
for  social  regeneration,  but  large  and  insistent  faith  in 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Many  questions  as  to  faith 
arose  in  his  own  mind  in  later  years,  but  never  any 
question  as  to  the  power  of  God's  grace  in  a  human 
heart  or  the  need  of  that  grace  in  personal  and  social 
life.  He  was  theologically  conservative,  almost  radi- 
cally conservative  at  times,  but  this  drove  him  to  even 
deeper  emphasis  and  firmer  insistence  upon  evangelism 
and  what  is  called  old-fashioned  religion. 

He  has  made  large  contributions  to  the  activities  of 
the  Church  in  the  city,  and  has  left  such  provision  as 
will  make  his  influence  and  help  permanent  through 
the  years. 

His  name  stands  at  the  head  of  our  lists  of  university 
and  biblical  institute  trustees.  There  it  must  have 
stood  while  he  lived,  whether  he  was  active  in  service 
or  not. 

He  received  his  own  education  when  the  world  was 
young,  long  before  the  modern  standards  came  into 
being  and  power.  The  range  and  the  cost  of  education, 
as  of  everything  else,  were  almost  revolutionized  in  his 
lifetime.  He  did  not  wholly  appreciate  nor  wholly 
approve  some  of  these  changes.  But  he  was  a  noble 
illustration  of  the  finest  thing  seen  in  our  American 
life,  the  men  who  so  believe  in  Christian  education 
that  they  build  institutions  far  nobler  than  any  they 
were  permitted  to  enjoy. 

My  own  father  put  the  case  in  a  small  way  when  he 
proposed  to  send  me,  the  first  of  all  our  family,  to  col- 
lege. I  can  remember  across  the  years  since  boyhood 
how  he  said  it.  He  had  not  been  to  college.  He  did 
not  know  fully  what  a  college  was,  or  what  it  would  do, 
or  quite  what  it  would  cost.     But  this  he  said:    "You 


WILLIAM   DEERING  31 

must  have  a  better  chance  than  I  have  had.  The 
world  will  not  let  you  off  so  easily  as  it  has  let  me 
off."  And  the  door  of  the  college  stood  straight  open 
to  me  after  that.  That  is  the  way  the  world  gets  for- 
ward. Not  every  man  so  concisely  states  the  principle. 
But  to-day,  with  this  "good  gray  head"  laid  low,  with 
Garrett  and  Northwestern  standing  in  sorrow  and  grat- 
itude by  his  bier,  we  must  reverently  thank  God  for 
William  Deering,  and  for  all  others  like  unto  him  who 
have  opened  wider  gates  for  the  feet  of  youth  than 
their  own  ever  entered;  who  have  provided  for  youth 
the  better  chance  than  they  themselves  ever  had;  who 
have  lighted  the  lamps  of  learning  to  shine  through 
oncoming  years. 

Much  that  I  could  say  it  is  neither  lawful  nor  pos- 
sible for  me  or  anyone  to  utter.  There  were  personal 
relations,  intimate  friendships  rare  and  rich  in  their 
content,  that  cannot  be  described  in  any  public  address. 

At  Mr.  Lunt's  funeral  Dr.  Little  quoted  the  words  of 
St.  Bernard,  bemoaning  the  death  of  his  friend:  "My 
words  are  charged  with  grief,  but  not  with  murmuring. 
Thou  gavest  me  my  brother.  Thou  hast  taken  him 
away.  And  if  we  mourn  that  he  has  been  taken,  we 
forget  not  that  he  was  given;  and  we  render  thanks  to 
Thee  that  we  deserved  to  have  him  and  wish  not  to 
lament  him  more  than  is  expedient." 

To-day,  again,  for  this  man  whom  now  we  have  loved 
and  lost  a  while,  we  render  thanks  that  we  deserved  to 
have  him.  He  has  been  worth  having.  He  was  be- 
lieved to  be  a  man  of  large  wealth,  but  the  real  and  abid- 
ing, the  greatest,  wealth  in  his  life  was  in  its  affections, 
its  friendships,  and  its  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  his  Savior. 

In  his  time  he  dealt  with  large  affairs  and  marched 
bravely  up  the  way  of  life  with  mighty  achievement  in 
his  hand.     He  met  as  equals  the  kings   and  captains 


32  WILLIAM   DEERING 

of  modern  industry  and  was  not  abashed  or  ashamed 
before  them.  But  to-day  we  must  speak  the  truth,  we 
— ^just  because  he  was  what  he  was — must  say  that  the 
higher  reahties  of  his  Hfe  lay  in  its  simpHcity  and  its 
integrity,  in  its  fidehty  and  faith,  in  its  unstained  purity, 
domestic  tenderness,  and  loyalty.  The  best  thing  he  has 
left  his  sons,  his  friends,  his  church,  his  community,  and 
the  world  is  that  good  name  which  is  always  better  than 
great  riches. 

In  his  later  years,  under  stress  of  personal  experience, 
he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  question  of  the  future 
life.  He  read  many  books  upon  it.  He  conversed  with 
friends  about  it.  Its  mystery  perplexed  him.  What 
had  become  of  those  who  had  gone .?  What  soon  would 
become  of  him.?  This  life  stretched  behind  him.  Its 
earthly  end  marched  steadily  and  even  swiftly  toward 
him. 

Many  years  ago  his  dear  friend,  Mr.  Lunt,  gave 
him  a  small  volume  of  devotional  Scripture  and  prayers 
for  daily  use,  a  volume  like  "Daily  Strength  for  Daily 
Needs."  And  for  all  the  years  that  small  volume  was 
on  his  desk  for  daily  use.  It  is  well  worn  and  well  used. 
There  were  certain  questions  he  carried  in  his  mind; 
but  faith  abided  even  in  the  face  of  unanswered  ques- 
tions. And  by  now  his  questions  are  answered,  for 
"he  cannot  be  where  God  is  not." 

Large  and  unfinished  tasks  fall  from  his  hands  into 
ours.  Please  God  we  shall  perform  those  tasks  in  a 
fashion  worthy  of  the  great  company  of  men  "whom 
we  have  loved  and  lost  a  while." 

There  are  those  here  to-day  who  are  saying  over 
together  the  names  of  Orrington  Lunt  and  William 
Deering,  and  are  repeating  the  words  of  John  Bunyan 
as  they  do:  "Now  I  saw  in  my  dream  that  these  two 
men  went  into  the  gate,  and  lo!  as  they  entered  they 


WILLIAM   DEERING  33 

were  transfigured;  they  had  raiment  put  on  them  that 
shone  Hke  gold,  and  crowns  were  given  them  in  token 
of  honor;  and  all  the  bells  of  the  city  rang  again  for 
joy  and  it  was  said  unto  them:  Enter  ye  into  the  joy 
of  our  Lord.  And  as  the  gates  were  opened  to  let 
them  in,  I  looked  in  after  them,  and  behold!  the  city 
shone  like  the  sun  .  .  .  and  in  the  streets  walked 
many  men  with  crowns  on  their  heads,  palms  in  their 
hands  and  harps  to  sing  praises  withal.  .  .  .  And  after 
that  they  shut  up  the  gates;  which  when  I  had  seen  I 
wished  myself  among  them!" 

Prayer:  The  Reverend  Dr.  Timothy  P.  Frost 

Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  thank  thee 
for  thy  promises  unto  us;  we  thank  thee  that  in  the 
midst  of  strife  and  stress  and  toil  and  tumult  we  may 
have  peace. 

Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is 
stayed  on  thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  thee;  and  if  our 
trust  has  been  shaken  and  our  mind  is  not  just  now 
stayed  on  thee,  wilt  thou  give  us  such  revelation  of  life, 
and  help  us  to  such  devotion  of  ourselves  to  the  will  of 
God,  as  will  bring  peace  unto  our  souls.  We  would  not 
be  looking  upon  the  things  which  are  temporal:  we 
need  not,  we  will  not;  we  will  not  be  looking  at  death 
and  the  grave.  If  our  vision  be  dim,  if  the  heart  be 
dulled  because  of  the  excess  of  the  worldly,  because  of 
toil  and  care  and  sorrow,  wilt  thou  touch  our  eyes  that 
they  may  see;  wilt  thou  transform  the  heart  that  it 
may  be  a  new  creation  in  Jesus  Christ;  that  we  may 
have  a  vision  of  the  things  which  are  not  seen  and 
which  are  eternal. 

O  God,  we  thank  thee  for  the  life  that  thy  Son  gave 
that  we  might  have  life  and  have  it  abundantly. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  record  that  when  he  stood  in 


34  WILLIAM   DEERING 

the  presence  of  that  which  we  call  death,  he  looked 
away  unto  the  eternal  life  and  spoke  of  his  Father's 
house  of  many  mansions,  and  declared  that  the  one 
who  liveth  and  beheveth  in  Him  shall  never  die.  And 
we  thank  thee  that  with  faith  in  this  Redeemer  we 
can  look  away  to  the  realms  of  Hght  and  life. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  long  life  whose  course  lies  back 
of  this  hour.  We  thank  thee  for  all  that  was  good  and 
pure  and  strong  in  his  life;  that  the  best  thing  in  his 
life  to  him,  the  best  thing  in  childhood,  youth  and 
early  manhood,  in  the  New  England  home,  the  best 
thing  in  the  years  of  struggle  and  achievement,  the 
best  in  the  waning  time,  was  his  faith  in  God,  his  hope 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  comfort  in  the  Gospel. 

Now,  as  we  stand  here  looking  upward  and  onward, 
may  our  faith  be  secure,  and  our  hope  be  bright  and 
our  comfort  be  deep  and  abiding. 

O  Lord,  we  thank  thee  for  human  friendships;  we 
thank  thee  for  human  love  and  human  ministers.  But 
thou  knowest  that  the  years  are  merciless:  they  wear 
out  our  loved  ones  and  they  are  gone.  We  need  thy 
ministers  and  thy  help. 

We  pray  that  thou  wilt  bless  those  to  whom  our 
departed  brother  was  the  nearest  and  the  dearest. 
Bless  them  all,  near  and  far,  in  thy  way  which  is  better 
than  our  way,  according  to  thy  thought  which  is  higher 
than  our  thought,  wilt  thou  bless  them.  "May  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  God,  even  our  Father, 
who  hath  loved  us  and  given  us  everlasting  consolation 
and  good  hope  through  Christ,  comfort  their  hearts." 

Very  earnestly,  most  tenderly  would  we  unite  our 
prayers  for  her  who  sits  in  loneliness  afar  off  by  the 
southern  sea,  in  the  home  that  can  never  be  again  what 
it  has  been  in  the  past,  thinking  of  this  place  and  of 
this  hour,  and  of  him  whose  voice  she  will  hear  speaking 


WILLIAM   DEERING  35 

the  earthly  language  no  more.  Wilt  thou  give  unto 
her  the  assurance  that  the  Eternal  God  is  her  refuge, 
and  that  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms.  May 
she  be  calm  in  the  faith  that  "earth  hath  no  sorrow  that 
heaven  cannot  heal."  That  sometime  and  somehow 
she  shall  prove  that  Life  is  lord  of  Death,  and  Love  can 
never  lose  its  own.  May  the  peace  of  God  which 
passeth  all  understanding  keep  her  heart. 

Wilt  thou  bless  the  men  who  are  here  to-day  in 
memory  of  the  strong  man  in  his  strength. 

O  God,  may  every  man  of  us  do  a  man's  work  in  the 
world,  and  may  every  man  be  accorded  a  man's  rights 
and  a  man's  reward. 

Some  of  us  in  a  few  days  will  follow  our  friend  into 
the  unseen.  The  shadows  are  over  us  now.  Death  is 
at  the  door.  There  is  much  work  to  be  done,  before 
the  night  cometh. 

O  God,  help  us  as  men  to  be  faithful,  and  may  we  do 
our  work  while  the  day  lasts.  During  the  few  remain- 
ing stages  of  our  journey  may  we  live  to  serve.  May  we 
shun  every  broad  road  which  leads  to  destruction. 
May  we  walk  the  narrow  way  which  leads  to  life.  So 
wilt  thou  bring  us  on  over  thy  way  unto  the  realm 
where  all  tears  shall  be  wiped  away  and  death  shall  be 
no  more.  Where  there  shall  be  no  more  mourning,  or 
crying,  or  pain,  because  the  former  things  have  passed 
away  and  we  shall  dwell  with  our  God  in  his  kingdom 
forever. 

All  this  we  ask  and  offer  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


36  WILLIAM   DEERING 


Hymn  No.  615  Homeland 

The  Homeland!  Oh,  the  Homeland! 

The  land  of  souls  free  born! 
No  gloomy  night  is  known  there, 

But  aye  the  fadeless  morn: 
I'm  sighing  for  that  country. 

My  heart  is  aching  here; 
There  is  no  pain  in  the  Homeland 

To  which  I'm  drawing  near. 

My  Lord  is  in  the  Homeland, 

With  angels  bright  and  fair; 
No  sinful  thing  nor  evil, 

Can  ever  enter  there; 
The  music  of  the  ransomed 

Is  ringing  in  my  ears. 
And  when  I  think  of  the  Homeland, 

My  eyes  are  wet  with  tears. 

For  loved  ones  in  the  Homeland 

Are  waiting  me  to  come 
Where  neither  death  nor  sorrow 

Invades  their  holy  home; 
O  dear,  dear  native  country! 

O  rest  and  peace  above! 
Christ  bring  us  to  the  Homeland 

Of  His  eternal  love. 

Amen. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  37 

BENEDICTION 
Chant:  A  Cappella  Choir. 

"The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee:  the  Lord  make 
his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee: 
the  Lord  hft  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give 
thee  peace."     Amen. 


The  grave  is  at  Graceland  Cemetery  in  Chicago. 
The  following  were  the  pall-bearers: 

ACTIVE 

B.  A.  Kennedy,  J.  F.  Steward, 

C.  H.  Haney,  J.  H.  Pitkin, 
H.  N.  Kennedy,  George  Rice, 

J.  C.  McMath,  John  G.  Young, 

G.  F.  Steele,  M.  H.  McKinstry. 

HONORARY 

E.  H.  Gary,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis, 
N.  W.  Harris,  Sam  Brown,  Jr., 
C.  H.  McCormick,  Dr.  M.  S.  Terry, 
M.  E.  Holton,  John  F.  Appleby, 
A.  W.  Harris,  Charles  W.  Marsh, 
Milton  Wilson,  Dr.  James  Rowe, 

F.  P.  Crandon,  Judge  O.  H.  Horton, 
Perley  Lowe,  John  C.  Shaffer, 

S.  M.  Milhkin,  H.  H.  Hitchcock, 

F.  A.  Chamberlain. 


WILLIAM  DEERING— A   SKETCH 

William  Deering's  grandfather  was  a  master  ship- 
builder in  Saco,  Maine.  His  father  removed  from  the 
coast  some  sixty  miles  into  what  then  seemed  the  re- 
mote interior.  There  William  Deering  was  brought  up 
in  the  struggle  with  difficulties  that  went  with  a  barren 
and  unsubdued  land,  a  rare  and  uncertain  currency,  and 
a  feeble  and  struggling  industry. 

His  father  more  than  once  told  the  boy  that  he  had 
seen  a  letter  exposed  in  the  post-office  for  himself,  but 
that  not  having  the  necessary  twenty-five  cents  to  pay 
for  it  and  not  being  able  in  the  village  to  find  so  much 
ready  money,  he  had  been  obliged  to  look  wistfully  at 
it  and  pass  on. 

His  father,  with  others,  established  a  manufactory  of 
various  things,  but  especially  of  woolen  cloths.  This  was 
ruined  by  one  of  the  sudden  and  violent  changes  of  the 
tariff  laws  of  those  days,  though  it  was  afterwards 
re-established. 

In  the  time  and  place  of  his  boyhood  it  was  frugality  or 
starvation.  He  never  lost  the  simplicity  and  personal 
frugality  of  his  youth.  He  freely  spent  millions  to 
build  and  enlarge  his  great  works,  to  establish  his 
branch  houses  throughout  America  and  foreign  countries, 
to  send  his  representatives  wherever  m  the  world  gram 
and  grass  were  grown,  to  buy  iron  mines  or  timber 
forests;  he  gave  away  millions,  but  for  himself  the  most 
modest  expenditure  was  ample. 

When  the  automobile  first  appeared  on  the  horizon,  it 
struck  his  insatiable  love  of  progress  so  forcibly  that 
he  had  several  of  the  first  automobiles  ever  made  in 
America,   invented    and   designed   in   his   own   works. 

39 


40  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Moved  by  the  love  of  progress  he  rode  about  several 
times  in  various  of  these  primitive  automobiles.  But  he 
gave  it  all  up  ''because  the  vehicle  scared  the  horses  so," 
and  he  loved  dumb  animals. 

Progress  was  a  passion  with  him,  and  for  it  more  than 
once  he  risked  his  fortune;  and  at  the  age  of  seventy  and 
eight  he  still  chafed  that  it  did  not  go  fast  enough  and 
that  he  could  no  longer  personally  push  it  on.  The 
newest  in  everything  in  invention  and  in  manufacturing 
was  not  new  enough  for  him. 

In  his  personal  adornment,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
oldest  fashion  that  his  tailor  would  recognize  was  too 
new  for  him.  This  simplicity  lay  at  the  very  root  of 
his  character  and  life.  It  gave  him  a  directness,  sin- 
cerity, and  frankness  that  sometimes  surprised  and  even 
wounded  those  who  did  not  know  him  or  were  unable 
to  understand  those  virtues. 

But  it  bound  to  him  by  ever  stronger  ties  those  who 
came  to  know  him  and  to  learn  that  truth,  honesty,  and 
purity  were  the  warp  and  woof  of  his  nature.  His  word 
was  the  truth,  his  promise  was  his  bond,  and  none  ever 
had  to  go  beyond  these. 

During  his  Hfe  in  Maine,  and  previous  to  1870,  he 
had  been  merchant  in  country  and  city,  manufacturer, 
and  banker,  all  with  marked  success.  Without  doubt 
he  had  felt  in  all  of  these  something  lacking  to  his  inner 
spirit,  his  inmost  craving. 

He  had  known  the  West,  and  with  his  unerring  fore- 
sight had  recognized  the  vast  dominion  awaiting  its 
conquerors.  And  so  it  was  that  when  William  Deering 
found  himself  fairly  embarked  in  the  business  of  making 
harvesting  machinery  all  the  faculties  of  his  mind  and 
character  awakened,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  in  all 
their  fullness.  And  everything  that  God  had  given 
him  he  gave  to  his  work. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  41 

It  was  the  great  pride  of  his  Ufe  that  he  could  employ 
an  army  of  men.  He  often  counted  them  up  and,  com- 
puting a  given  family  to  each  worker,  rejoiced  to  think 
that  he  was  affording  support  to  a  large  city  full  of 
people.  Then  he  gloried  in  the  fact  that  he  and  all  his 
workers  were  striving  for  those  who  go  to  the  bottom 
of  the  world's  necessities  —  for  those  who  stand  under 
all  others  and  raise  the  food  for  all. 

And  so  it  was  that  his  industry  never  flagged,  that 
his  interest  never  abated  in  the  effort  to  give  these 
farmers  the  best  that  could  be  made  for  them,  to  lighten 
and  render  ever  more  effective  their  toil  and  its  results. 

From  a  few  hundred  in  1870  his  working  people  came 
to  number  nine  thousand  in  1900,  the  year  before  he 
retired  from  active  business.  He  had  sixty  branch 
warehouses  in  the  United  States  alone,  and  his  business 
extended  over  the  civilized  world,  with  a  large  army 
engaged  in  selling  its  products.  This  had  been  the 
work  chosen  by  God's  providence  for  him.  Into  it 
he  put  all  his  heart. 

As  a  merchant  his  life  was  not  complete;  as  a  banker 
there  was  something  lacking.  But  as  one  to  whom  it 
was  given  to  aid  and  stimulate  the  progress  of  the  whole 
world,  to  make  food  cheaper  and  the  world  happier,  he 
felt  that  every  faculty  that  had  been  given  him,  of  mind 
or  body,  was  not  too  much  to  give  —  that  he  had  found 
a  high  mission  in  life. 

That  the  possession  of  wealth  for  the  sake  of  its  per- 
sonal possession  had  small  attraction  for  him  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  for  himself  he  spent  almost  none  of  it, 
that  during  his  own  lifetime  he  gave  millions  of  dollars 
to  good  works,  and  that  on  his  retirement  from  active 
work  he  gave  his  business  to  his  sons  and  son-in-law. 

His  relations  with  those  associated  with  him  in  his 
business  were  perhaps  extraordinary.     It  is  probable 


42  WILLIAM   DEERING 

that  no  one  of  them  ever  really  questioned  his  good 
faith  or  sense  of  justice.  The  humbler  the  worker,  the 
quicker  the  attention  given  to  him  and  the  speedier 
the  justice,  if  justice  were  needed. 

Yet  he  never  sought  by  any  art  or  grace  to  win  pop- 
ularity among  his  workers.  All  knew  him  as  a  friend 
who  felt  himself  to  be,  as  they  felt  him  to  be,  the  center 
of  all  their  activities;  and  he  worked  harder  than  any  of 
them.  And  so  in  a  wonderful  measure  he  was  recognized 
by  them  all  to  be  the  sun  of  the  entire  system,  around 
which  in  different  orbits  they  all  revolved,  to  whom  they 
all  looked  with  faith  and  devotion,  and  whose  character 
shone  out  over  the  entire  system  to  give  it  truth, 
industry,  and  devotion. 

There  never  was  a  real  strike  of  the  workmen  in  his 
works,  and  only  one  feeble  attempt  at  a  strike.  The 
higher  grade,  more  highly  paid  men  might  look  out  for 
themselves  more  or  less,  but  the  poor  laborer  was  looked 
out  for  by  William  Deering  and  he  would  never  permit 
the  wage  of  such  to  sink  below  a  reasonable  level.  As 
has  been  already  said,  he  never  thought  or  strove  to 
gain  personal  popularity  among  those  who  worked  with 
him.  He  simply  gave  them  his  own  kindness,  his  own 
brotherhood,    his   own   simple   dignity    and    example. 

The  wonderful  and  touching  demonstration  of  grief 
that  followed  upon  his  death  is  proof  of  the  return  of 
the  bread  that  he  cast  on  the  waters  in  these  many  years 
and  among  these  many  thousands.  Telegrams  came 
from  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  Thousands  of  the  men 
in  the  Deering  works  begged  to  be  allowed  to  attend 
the  funeral  services.  The  church  was  small  and  this 
right  was  granted  only  to  those  who  had  seen  twenty 
years  of  service,  and  between  five  and  six  hundred  of 
these,  proud  and  sad,  appeared. 

He  was  honored  and  respected  by  his  competitors  in 


WILLIAM   DEERING  43 

business.  One  of  them,  himself  a  good  judge,  once  re- 
marked that  William  Deering  was  the  ablest  business 
man  he  had  ever  known. 

In  return  he  respected  his  competitors  whose  business 
integrity  and  ability  had  weathered  the  storms  of  many 
years.  His  own  honor  and  integrity  have  never  been 
questioned  by  competitors  or  others.  He  could  never 
understand  how  any  person  or  any  government  could 
believe  that  men  who  had  proved  their  uprightness  by 
many  years  of  unquestioned  business  probity  could,  by 
the  mere  fact  of  combining  their  interests  and  their 
capital,  become  at  once  less  honorable. 

It  was  a  joy  to  him  to  know  and  have  the  world  know 
that  in  the  suit  of  the  government  against  the  business 
that  he  had  done  so  much  to  make  great,  not  one  single 
accusation  had  been  proved  or  even  attempted  to  be 
proved  except  that  the  business  was  very  large.  That  it 
was  large  he  knew;  that  it  had  been  and  still  was  one  of 
the  greatest  and  most  beneficent  of  the  world  he  knew; 
that  it  was  honorable  and  conducted  on  the  highest 
principles  of  justice  and  commercial  good  will  toward 
others  he  knew.  And  he  rejoiced  to  see  all  this  proved 
in  the  courts,  to  which  he  thought  it  had  been  unfairly 
brought. 

He  did  great  things  and  did  them  in  a  large  way.  He 
covered  the  earth  with  his  activities.  He  lavished  the 
money  that  he  earned  on  efforts  to  do  better  and  larger 
things. 

He  was  himself  as  simple  as  a  child — earnest,  un- 
selfish, kindly,  and  courteous.  He  had  a  noble  soul, 
a  noble  mind,  and  a  noble  body.  He  shed  at  all  times 
and  in  all  places  an  ennobling  influence  which  will 
spread  out  through  time  into  eternity. 

The  noble  body  has  gone  to  rest;  the  noble  soul  is  still 
with  us. 


WILLIAM  DEERING  AS    I    KNEW   HIM 
By  John  F.  Steward 

The  West,  to  William  Deering,  was  full  of  promise, 
and  at  an  early  date  he  made  various  trips  of  observa- 
tion, partly  on  horseback,  over  the  great  prairies. 

His  experience  during  early  manhood  had  led  him 
into  manufacture  and,  incident  thereto,  into  mercantile 
lines.  The  manufacture  of  woolen  goods  generally 
and  for  army  clothing  during  the  Rebellion,  and  also 
army  clothing  from  cloth  of  his  own  manufacture,  led 
him  into  broader  fields  that,  becoming  wider  still, 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  his  first  dry-goods  house, 
in  Portland,  dealing  in  cotton  goods  in  addition  to  the 
product  of  his  woolen  mills. 

The  woolen-goods  business  enlarged  from  a  single 
factory  to  several,  from  the  time  he  began  in  the  little 
factory  as  an  employee.  Enlargements  of  the  mercan- 
tile branch  of  the  business  spread  to  Boston,  New  York, 
and  Chicago,  until  the  year  1870,  when  he  severed  his 
connection  with  Deering,  Milliken  &  Co. 

One  of  the  prominent  characteristics  of  Mr.  Deering 
is  well  illustrated  by  the  manner  in  which  he  severed 
his  connection  with  the  business  so  well  founded  by 
him.  What  has  sometimes  seemed  to  me  hasty  action, 
action  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  was  not  such  in  fact. 
His  withdrawal,  in  this  instance,  is  a  case  in  point. 

Walking  one  morning  into  the  establishment  at  New 
York,  he  asked  his  principal  partner  what  he  would  give 
for  his  interest.  Reply  was  made,  and  the  offer  ac- 
cepted.    So  thoroughly  in  mind  was  the  business,  as 

45 


46  WILLIAM   DEERING 

had  been  his  affairs  during  his  whole  business  career, 
that  to  promptly  accept  the  offer  was  the  result,  not 
of  a  moment's  thought,  but  of  a  clear  comprehension 
of  well-considered  conditions.  The  deal  was  consum- 
mated, and  he  was  thus  released  from  business  cares. 
Whatever  may  have  been  his  intentions,  he  was  not 
content  with  the  leisure,  which  soon  became  a  burden. 

He  had  read  the  promise  of  the  broad  prairies,  had 
witnessed  the  increase  of  the  immense  fields  of  grain  of 
the  West,  and  had  watched  with  keen  eyes  the  develop- 
ment of  agricultural  machinery.  For  years  he  had 
been  associated  with  an  acquaintance  to  whom  he  had 
advanced  money  in  an  infant  enterprise  that  later, 
when  solely  in  his  hands,  influenced  every  civilized 
nation  of  the  globe. 

The  writer  knows  the  story  —  he  shared  in  its  trials 
and  its  triumphs.  The  story  of  years  may,  however, 
be  outlined  in  few  words. 

Two  Canadian  brothers,  possessing  Yankee  ingenuity, 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  providing  the  necessary  de- 
vices to  enable  two  men  to  ride  upon  a  reaping  machine 
and  bind  the  grain  cut  by  it  into  bundles  before  deposit- 
ing it  upon  the  ground.  Before  this  time  the  self-raking 
reaper  had  succeeded  the  hand-rake  reaper,  on  which  a 
man  rode  and  raked  the  grain  to  the  ground,  there  to 
be  bound  by  five  or  six  men,  laboriously  following  it. 
Charles  Wesley  and  William  Wallace  Marsh  were  the 
brothers.  They  made  their  experiments  in  1857,  and 
later  attempted,  unaided,  to  perfect  their  machine  at 
their  farm  shop  in  Dekalb  County,  Illinois. 

In  an  adjoining  county  was  a  mechanic,  John  F.  Hol- 
lister,  and  a  farmer,  Marcus  Steward,  brothers-in-law, 
who  had  built  a  harvester  in  1843  that  had  cut  large 
harvests  every  year  for  fourteen  years.  The  Marsh 
brothers  sought  the  advice  of  Mr.  Steward,  who  saw 


WILLIAM   DEERING  47 

the  experimental  machine  operate  for  a  few  rods,  when 
it  broke  down.  He  told  them  he  believed  their  principle 
was  right,  and  that  Mr.  Hollister  could  build  a  machine 
for  them  that  would  not  break.  They  accepted  the  ad- 
vice. A  machine  was  made,  and  after  it  had  successfully 
operated  during  three  harvests  a  copartnership  arrange- 
ment was  entered  into  between  Steward  Brothers  and 
C.  W.  Marsh. 

Later  E.  H.  Gammon,  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Deer- 
ign  above  referred  to,  became  interested,  and  it  was 
mainly  through  him  that  early  in  the  seventies  Mr. 
Deering  acquired  an  interest  in  the  business. 

Harvesting  methods  once  ripe  for  revolution,  a 
leader  only  had  been  necessary,  and  now  one  became 
available.  A  merchant,  both  by  nature  and  by  training, 
was  a  new  thing  in  the  business,  and  Mr.  Deering's 
influence  became  instantly  felt.  The  trade  increased 
rapidly,  and  manufacturers  of  reapers  soon  learned 
that  the  Marsh  harvester  had  come  to  stay.  Some 
foresaw  that  disaster  was  inevitable  unless  they  at  once 
took  up  the  manufacture  of  the  then  wonder  of  the 
great  grain  fields. 

The  patents  covering  the  Marsh  harvester  had  been 
badly  taken  out,  and  to  make  matters  worse  the  im- 
portant one  had  been  reissued  without  sufficient  war- 
rant for  doing  so.  The  defeat  of  the  patent  monopoly, 
so  dearly  earned  by  years  of  labor  and  industrial  trials, 
was  the  result  of  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in 
Miller  vs.  Bridgeport  Brass  Company,  which  was,  for  a 
time,  a  blow  to  practically  all  reissues  of  patents. 

The  suits  were  brought  before  Judge  Drummond,  and 
he  withheld  his  decision  for  many  months.  When 
finally  rendered,  he  admitted  to  complainants  that  if  he 
had  rendered  his  decision  before  the  Supreme  Court  case 
referred  to  had  been  decided,  it  would  have  been  in 


48  WILLIAM   DEERING 

favor  of  the  patent  sued  on.  This  delay  of  Judge 
Drummond  and  the  result  of  the  delay  opened  wide  the 
gate  for  competing  manufacturers,  and  they  were  not 
slow  in  rushing  into  the  new  field. 

After  fifteen  years  on  the  part  of  the  inventors  of  the 
Marsh  harvester  and  their  associates  in  reducing  the 
inventions  to  practice  and  developing  a  trade,  with 
their  gains  and  losses  incident  to  seasons  of  plenty  and 
seasons  of  crop  failures,  their  patent  rights  were  lost. 
Competition  became  general,  yet  the  business  of  the 
httle  company,  now  fully  under  control  of  a  master 
mind,  grew  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

No  sooner  had  Mr.  Deering  become  associated  with 
the  founders  of  the  business  than  he  learned  of  the 
eflPorts  on  the  part  of  inventors  to  manufacture  an 
automatic  binder.  As  early  as  1850  efforts  had  been 
made,  and  from  that  time  nearly  all  had  attempted  to 
apply  a  binding  attachment  to  a  mere  reaping  machine, 
only  to  fail. 

The  success  of  the  Marsh  harvester,  which  was 
adapted  to  elevate  the  cut  grain  and  deliver  it  to  a 
receptacle  in  which  it  might  be  bound,  led  inventors 
into  a  newer  field,  and  immediately  success  seemed  not 
far  distant. 

During  the  years  1871-2-3  various  semi-automatic 
binders  had  been  applied  to  the  Marsh  harvester.  The 
degree  of  success  was  sufficient  to  encourage  Mr.  Deer- 
ing. Other  members  of  the  company  opposed  the 
expenditure  of  any  money  directed  to  the  development 
of  binding  attachments.  Nevertheless,  a  binder  was 
applied  to  one  of  the  machines  in  1874  which  promised 
well,  and  Mr.  Deering  favored  placing  the  hke  on  the 
market. 

One  of  Mr.  Deering's  characteristics  was  well  ex- 
pressed, in  later  years,  by  one  of  the  partners  who  had 


WILLIAM   DEERING  49 

most  opposed  the  proposed  innovation.  He  said  to  the 
writer,  his  brother,  that  what  the  company  had  so  long 
needed  was  a  man  possessed  of  mercantile  instincts  and 
training  at  its  head;  that  in  1874,  when  he  was  opposing 
the  manufacture  of  binding  attachments  very  vigorous- 
ly, Mr.  Deering,  then  the  largest  stockholder,  had  said 
that  the  binders  must  be  put  out  in  the  West,  even 
though  they  ultimately  found  their  way  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi River.  "The  course  followed,"  said  the  nar- 
rator, "pro^^d  to  be  the  right  one";  but  it  was  years 
afterward  that  he  fully  appreciated  the  foresight  of  his 
partner,  William  Deering. 

Marsh  harvesters  with  binding  attachments  were 
advertised  and  put  out  for  the  year  1875,  but  so  un- 
receptive  was  the  farmer  of  that  day  that  while  many 
thousand  harvesters  were  ordered,  only  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  binders  were  required  to  supply  the  de- 
mand. They  worked  fairly  well,  but  the  farmer  was 
not  educated  in  the  use  of  complicated  machinery. 
Certain  defects  were  discovered,  partly  in  principle 
and  partly  in  the  matter  of  details.  The  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  binding  attachments  were  gathered  in  and 
rebuilt,  with  the  result  that  for  the  harvest  of  1876  all 
that  were  rebuilt  operated  successfully,  and  several 
hundred  more  were  made  and  sold.  None  found  its 
way  into  the  Mississippi  River. 

At  that  time  but  one  competing  binder  had  found  its 
way  into  the  field  —  that  fostered  by  Walter  A.  Wood. 
Both  binders  employed  wire  as  band  material.  The 
attachment,  when  thus  applied,  mainly  through  Mr. 
Deering's  efforts,  to  the  Marsh  harvester,  had  operated 
so  successfully  that  infringers  of  the  Marsh  patents 
were  incited  to  strenuous  efforts,  and  within  two  years 
began  to  manufacture  binding  attachments  to  be  ap- 
plied to  their  Deering-Marsh  harvesters. 


50  WILLIAM   DEERING 

The  business  increased  under  the  management  of 
Mr.  Deering,  and  in  1879  he  became  its  sole  owner. 

The  use  of  wire  as  a  binding  material  was  found  to 
be  objectionable,  as  fragments  remaining  in  the  grain 
were  injurious  to  millstones  in  the  grinding  of  wheat. 
Bits  of  wire  were  sometimes  taken  into  the  stomachs  of 
cattle,  and  it  became  apparent  that  twine  must  ul- 
timately be  resorted  to. 

A  manually  operated  twine  binder,  attached  to  a 
reaper,  was  patented  in  1850,  and  many  others  fol- 
lowed; but  none  had  approached  absolute  success  until 
the  year  1875,  when  John  F.  Appleby,  who  had  invented 
the  knotting  device  that  now  binds  the  grain  of  the 
world  (in  185S),  had  placed  upon  the  Marsh  harvester, 
built  by  Parker  &  Stone,  of  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  an  at- 
tachment that  seemed  full  of  promise. 

Mr.  Deering  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Appleby's 
associate.  Dr.  Bishop,  in  1876,  and  from  that  time  he 
never  lost  faith  that  the  twine  binder  must  come. 
Parker  &  Stone  had  manufactured  Marsh  harvesters 
for  the  owners  of  the  Marsh  harvester  patents,  and 
had  thus  become  familiar  with  the  advantages  of  the 
machine. 

Mr.  Appleby  had  endeavored  to  apply  a  binder  to  an 
ordinary  reaper,  but  Parker  &  Stone  foresaw  clearly 
what  merely  appeared  promising  to  Mr.  Appleby. 
They  were  not  a  strong  company,  and  Mr.  Deering, 
finding  that  arrangements  were  possible  whereby  he 
could  acquire  an  interest  in  the  Appleby  patents  and 
aid  in  perfecting  the  machines,  was  not  slow  in  arrang- 
ing with  that  company  and  Mr.  Appleby,  with  the 
result  that  two  Appleby  binders  were  manufactured  for 
him  and  sent  to  the  early  harvest  fields  in  Texas. 

Early  in  that  year,  before  the  binders  had  begun  to 
show  their  mettle,  Mr.  Deering  had  acquired  rights  to 


WILLIAM   DEERING  51 

manufacture    under   the   Appleby    patents   yet    to    be 
granted. 

"In  William  Deering,  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  formerly  of  the 
firm  of  Gammon  &  Deering,  I  found  a  man  far-sighted  enough 
to  see  the  importance  of  my  invention.  To  him  belongs  the 
credit  of  forcing  my  binder  onto  the  market  with  sufficient 
energy  to  convince  the  farmer  of  its  practicability.  His 
demonstration  of  the  practicability  of  the  invention  soon  led 
other  manufacturers  to  adopt  it. 

"(Signed)     John  F.Appleby." 

For  the  harvest  of  1879  discouragements  were  met 
with,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  improvements  had 
been  made.  Twine  suitable  for  binding  could  not  be 
procured,  and  farmers  were  slow  in  comprehending  the 
principles  of  the  machine  and  necessary  care  in  operat- 
ing the  same.  The  machines  fell  into  a  few  hands, 
however,  competent  to  operate  them,  and  dealers  in 
agricultural  machinery  were  at  once  aflame  with  antici- 
pations of  immense  demands  for  the  Deering  machines. 

The  wire  binders  had  not  been  strictly  automatic  in 
their  action.  They  bound  each  bundle  at  the  will  of 
the  operator,  who,  by  placing  his  foot  upon  a  pedal, 
put  them  into  action.  The  Appleby  binder  was  pro- 
vided with  means  whereby  the  accumulated  grain  for 
each  bundle  tripped  a  clutch  into  action,  thus  making 
the  binding  of  bundles  uniform  in  size  wholly  auto- 
matic. This  automatic  feature  had  been  invented  as 
early  as  1870,  and  Mr.  Deering  acquired  rights  under 
the  patents  covering  same. 

Suitable  twine  had  not  yet  been  found,  and  it  was 
later  discovered  that  the  machines  that  had  worked  so 
indiif'erently  in  1879  gave  little  trouble  after  suitable 
twme  had  been  procured. 

The  demand  for  the  Deering-Marsh  harvesters  with 
binding  attachments  became  a  clamor  to  such  an  ex- 


52  WILLIAM   DEERING 

tent  that  for  the  harvest  of  1880  three  thousand  were 
made.  The  writer  often  said  to  Mr.  Deering  that,  had 
he  previously  met  defeats  in  his  business  career  as  had 
the  older  builders  of  agricultural  machinery,  he  would 
not  have  dared  the  risks  incident  to  the  harvest  of  1880. 

In  the  writer's  business  career  of  more  than  forty- 
eight  years,  first  with  the  Marsh  harvester  in  its  in- 
fancy and  during  the  following  years  in  the  same 
lines  and  with  the  same  associates,  he  has  never  known 
a  bolder  stroke  than  that  of  William  Deering  during 
the  early  part  of  1880. 

The  majority  of  machines  demanded  for  the  year 
1880  were  simply  straight  Deering-Marsh  harvesters, 
mainly  with  wire  binding  attachments;  the  remaining 
ones  had  the  three  thousand  Appleby  binding  attach- 
ments applied,  and  this  constituted  an  amazing  venture. 
Every  wheel  of  the  factory  (then  still  at  Piano,  Illinois) 
was  turned  with  greater  speed  and  longer  hours,  in  an 
effort  to  accomplish  the  output  for  the  year. 

Another  prominent  characteristic  was  shown  early 
in  the  season.  The  writer  and  another  of  the  principal 
mechanics  went  with  Mr.  Deering  to  an  early  rye  field 
at  Alton,  Illinois.  The  writer  was  busied  in  putting 
up  and  starting  other  types  of  machines,  while  his  as- 
sociate had  erected  a  harvester  with  twine  binding  at- 
tachment and  started  it  in  the  field  of  rye,  with  exceed- 
ingly indifferent  success.  He  attempted  to  adjust  the 
knotting  devices,  but  merely  threw  them  out  of  ad- 
justment, with  the  result  that  when  the  writer  reached 
that  part  of  the  field  the  knotting  devices  and  the 
tripping  mechanism,  which  should  have  rendered  the 
binder  automatic,  were  seriously  inoperative  because 
of  misadjustment.  The  mechanics  had  not  become 
expert  in  the  operation  of  the  machines,  and  perfect 
twine  had  not  yet  been  produced. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  53 

The  writer  and  his  associates  labored  the  last  half 
of  the  day,  with  feelings  of  anxiety  that  cannot  be  de- 
scribed. Round  after  round  was  cut,  resulting  often- 
times in  no  complete  bundles,  at  times  in  bundles  of 
dimensions  sufficient  for  a  half-dozen  of  the  size  in- 
tended, and  at  other  times  choking  down  completely. 
During  those  hours  the  anxiety  of  Mr.  Deering  was 
little  reflected  in  his  countenance,  and  only  a  few  words 
showing  discouragement  were  uttered.  At  nightfall 
efforts  were  reluctantly  given  over  for  the  day. 

After  the  return  to  the  hotel,  and  supper  being  over, 
Mr.  Deering  announced  that  he  felt  he  must  return 
to  Chicago,  as  business  affairs  in  his  office  were  very 
pressing.  While  waiting  for  the  train  he  expressed 
himself  as  follows:  "Boys,  if  we  do  not  succeed  better 
than  w^e  have,  it  means  the  loss  of  a  million  dollars." 
(A  loss  of  that  amount  to  him  at  that  time  would 
have  been  akin  to  disaster.) 

The  writer  finally  succeeded  in  persuading  him  to 
remain  another  day,  saying  that  another  knotter  that 
had  not  been  misadjusted  could  be  applied  to  the 
binder,  and  he  felt  sure  the  bundle-sizing  devices  could 
be  corrected. 

The  hotel  was  crowded  and  the  party  of  three  was 
given  a  double  room.  The  experiences  of  that  night 
to  the  writer,  whose  interest  was  only  that  of  an  em- 
ployee, but  one  who  had  exerted  every  eflPort  toward 
the  perfecting  of  harvesting  machinery,  cannot  be 
described,  nor  can  the  feelings  of  his  companion,  the 
superintendent,  be  expressed.  Not  a  wink  of  sleep 
was  the  lot  of  either.  What  had  been  the  cause  of  the 
trouble  and  what  remedies  to  apply  were  discussed,  and 
all  that  time  Mr.  Deering  slept  soundly,  having  closed 
his  eyes  a  few  moments  after  reaching  his  bed. 

After  over  thirty-three  years,  since  that  time,  added 


54  WILLIAM   DEERING 

to  the  many  previous  years  of  association  with  Mr. 
Deering,  the  writer  is  still  unable  to  comprehend  the 
mental  make-up  of  a  man  who,  like  few  generals  in 
other  than  industrial  wars,  could  calmly  drop  cares  so 
burdensome.  His  faith  in  human  ingenuity  and 
ultimate  success,  the  result  of  incomprehensible  fore- 
sight, did  not  fail  him. 

The  hope  of  the  writer  that  better  success  awaited 
them  on  the  morrow  proved  to  be  well  founded,  as 
the  machine,  once  again  put  in  order,  behaved  beau- 
tifully. 

Under  the  fostering  influence  of  William  Deering 
for  two  years,  the  Appleby  binder  had  reached  a  de- 
gree of  perfection  that,  so  far  as  principles  and  opera- 
bility  are  concerned,  has  not  been  excelled  up  to  the 
present  time.  It  had  come  to  stay,  and  the  success  of 
the  year  1880  was  such  that  the  manufacturers  of 
reapers  and  other  harvesting  machines  rushed  into  the 
field.  Within  four  years  a  score  of  manufacturing  con- 
cerns were  building  the  Deering-Marsh  harvester  with 
the  Appleby  binder  as  an  indispensable  part  thereof. 

The  years  1878  and  1879  had  shown  the  necessity  of 
a  better  twine  than  had  been  made  of  jute,  flax,  or  hemp. 
All  had  their  faults.  The  sharpest  knife  was  necessary 
in  the  knotting  devices  for  severing  the  completed  band 
from  the  ball,  and  the  inequalities  of  the  twine  made 
it  difficult  for  the  holding  devices  to  operate  as  in- 
tended. 

Mr.  Deering  had  foreseen  the  necessity  of  something 
better,  and  early  in  the  year  1880  had  conceived  the 
idea  that  it  might  be  possible  to  make  rope  yarn  of 
sufl&cient  fineness  to  serve  as  binding  material.  He 
visited  various  rope  factories,  principally  in  the  East, 
only  to  meet  with  discouragement,  until,  calling  upon 
Mr.  Fitler  of  Philadelphia,  a  very  extensive  manufac- 


WILLIAM   DEERING  55 

turer  of  ropes,  the  latter  was  induced,  only  after  con- 
siderable effort,   however,   to  undertake  experiments. 

He  at  first  said  he  could  not  afford  to  go  into  the 
matter,  but  later  stated  that  if  a  sufficient  order  could 
be  given  him  he  would  undertake  rearrangement  of 
his  machinery  with  a  view  to  possible  success.  Mr. 
Deering  at  once  replied  that  he  was  ready  to  give  an 
order  for  one  hundred  tons.  This  opened  Mr.  Fitler's 
eyes,  and  the  experiments  were  undertaken. 

Early  in  the  harvest  of  1880  a  single  ball  had  been 
sent  to  the  writer  in  Texas.  It  was  applied  to  a  ma- 
chine that  the  day  before  had  given  much  trouble,  but 
the  new  twine  ran  perfectly.  The  satisfaction  of  the 
writer  found  expression  in  a  telegram  of  two  words  — 
"Manila  splendid." 

Of  little  less  value  to  the  world  than  the  Appleby 
binder  was  the  production  of  modern  binder  twine,  for 
which  Mr.  William  Deering  must  be  given  credit. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  AN  ASSOCIATE 

One  of  Mr.  Deering's  characteristics  that  always  struck 
me  most  forcibly  was  what  I  may  call  his  intuitive  good 
judgment.  Sometimes  apparently  without  reflection  I 
have  seen  him  reach  conclusions  as  to  present  and  es- 
pecially as  to  future  events  that  have  astonished  me. 
I  once  asked  him  how  he  succeeded  in  looking  so  far 
into  the  future,  and  his  reply  was  that  often  he  could 
not  himself  tell  and  often  he  had  been  surprised  to  see 
events  working  out  so  exactly  as  he  had  foreseen  them. 
He  had  in  a  marked  degree  that  balance  of  faculties 
which  we  call  common  sense,  perhaps  because  it  is  so 
uncommon. 

His  youth's  desire  was  to  be  a  doctor,  and  for  a  brief 
time  he  studied  medicine.  The  very  balance  of  facul- 
ties of  which  I  have  spoken  would,  in  my  opinion,  have 
given  him  success  in  any  career  that  he  might  have 
chosen.  His  unusual  ability  to  throw  all  of  his  heart 
and  mind  into  any  cause  or  work  that  he  took  up  would 
certainly  have  made  him  a  great  lawyer,  as  his  notable 
ability  to  plan  for  the  future  would  have  made  him  a 
great  general.  He  was  a  merchant  in  a  variety  of 
lines,  a  manufacturer  in  a  variety  of  lines,  a  banker;  and 
in  all  his  success  was  equal. 

Another  very  notable  characteristic  was  his  passion- 
ate love  of  progress.  In  his  business  of  manufacturing 
harvesting  machinery  the  very  newest  was  not  too  new, 
and  I  think  it  is  within  bounds  to  say  that  during  his 
active  career  the  amount  of  money  that  he  spent  in 
striving  for  new  inventions  and  improvements  on  his 
product  nearly,  if  not  quite,  equaled  the  sum  spent  by 

57 


S8  WILLIAM   DEERING 

all  his  competitors  together.  It  is  certainly  true  that 
a  very  large  share  of  the  advances  made  in  his  line  of 
business  during  his  active  lifetime  was  fostered  by  and 
due  to  him. 

His  capacity  for  work  and  the  physical  and  mental 
concentration  that  he  put  into  what  he  had  to  do  were 
always  a  wonder  to  me.  He  never  in  business  or  do- 
mestic life  allowed  anyone  to  do  for  him  what  he  could 
do  himself.  This  was  not  because  he  had  not  capable 
assistants,  but  because  he  loved  the  activity,  the  doing. 

He  was  one  of  the  last  of  important  business  men  to 
employ  a  stenographer,  and  he  never  employed  that 
institution  so  universal  nowadays,  the  private  secre- 
tary. No  one  that  I  have  ever  met  exemplified  more 
completely  the  phrase,  *'This  one  thing  I  do." 

His  capacity  for  self-denial  was  great.  No  evening 
entertainment,  however  tempting,  was  allowed,  when  he 
could  help  it,  to  take  the  strength  that  he  needed  for 
the  morning.  His  journeys  of  pleasure  were  always  too 
few.  He  was  often  solicited  and  even  tempted  to 
make  investments  outside  of  his  business,  but,  realizing 
that  his  growing  affairs  required  all  his  capital,  he  was 
accustomed  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  suggestions  involving 
large  and  speedy  profits. 

A  characteristic  that  always  struck  me  forcibly  was 
the  fact  that  in  any  business  transaction  the  best 
terms  were  always  had  from  him  by  the  person  who 
put  himself  in  his  hands.  When  he  felt  that  some  one 
was  striving  to  get  the  advantage  of  him,  this  result 
rarely  occurred.  His  confidence,  once  won,  was  given 
very  strongly. 

His  self-reliance  was  another  notable  characteristic. 
He  always  wished  to  direct  his  own  affairs  himself,  and 
on  only  one  occasion  did  he  have  a  partner  for  any 
length  of  time  until  his  sons  were  taken  into  his  business. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  59 

Though  not  a  trained  mechanic  and  not  an  inventor, 
his  judgment  on  mechanical  and  inventive  matters  was 
almost  unerring.  He  spent  much  time  in  the  harvest 
field,  and  his  inventors  and  mechanics  always  declared 
that  when  his  judgment  on  the  working  of  some  experi- 
ment or  invention  had  been  given  it  was  the  best  that 
was  to  be  expected. 

He  never  allowed  his  judgment  of  business  or  other 
matters  to  be  distorted  by  the  trivial  or  the  unessential. 
When  to  others  a  matter  appeared  one  of  infinite  detail 
he  would  at  once  and  unerringly  pick  out  the  few  essen- 
tial considerations  and  base  his  judgment  on  them. 

Born  of  a  long  line  of  Puritan  ancestry,  and  himself 
a  Puritan  in  spirit  and  life,  no  one  could  be  more  tender 
in  suffering  or  distress  than  he.  In  his  business  life 
he  expected  every  man  to  do  his  best,  and  judged  his 
employees  by  their  success.  Oftentimes  a  neglectful  or 
incompetent  man  suffered  judgment  at  his  hands.  If, 
however,  it  were  a  question  of  some  humble  employee — a 
janitor  or  an  office  boy,  for  example — his  patience,  for- 
bearance, and  good  nature  seemed  never-ending. 

His  love  and  tenderness  for  animals  and  birds,  his  love 
for  flowers  and  plants,  exceeded  that  of  any  person  I 
have  ever  known. 

His  patience  in  suffering  sometimes  struck  me  with 
wonder,  and  has  even  caused  me  to  reproach  him  when 
I  knew  that  he  had  purposely  concealed  from  his  family 
continued  suffering  that  might,  as  others  thought,  have 
been  mitigated. 

I  often  remarked  of  him  that  he  knew  neither  physi- 
cal nor  moral  fear.  With  this  went  a  modesty  and  a 
shrinking  from  any  publicity  that  are  rare  indeed.  He 
never  desired  public  office  and  never  held  any  except 
during  his  younger  years  in  Maine,  when  he  was  for  a 
time  one  of  the  seven  councilors  elected  to  advise  the 


6o  WILLIAM   DEERING 

governor  of  the  state,  and  when  at  another  time  he  was 
alderman  in  the  city  of  Portland,  dechning  to  become 
a  candidate  for  mayor. 

An  example  of  his  courage,  that  knew  no  thought  of 
danger,  came  under  my  eye.  The  only  strike  that  ever 
occurred  in  his  works  during  his  career  was  at  the  time 
of  the  bomb-throwing  in  Chicago  in  1886.  It  probably 
is  true  that  no  factory  in  Chicago  escaped  a  strike  at  this 
time.  The  one  that  occurred  at  his  works  was,  I  think, 
the  last  to  be  declared  and  the  first  to  end. 

A  committee  consisting  of  two  persons  from  each 
department  of  the  works  was  appointed,  and  Mr. 
Deering  addressed  this  committee  of  eighty  or  ninety 
men  and  several  women,  making  suggestions  for  some 
changes  in  conditions.  The  committee  accepted  the 
suggestions,  the  strike  was  declared  off,  and  work  was 
actually  started  the  next  morning. 

The  mass  of  the  strikers,  however,  were  not  satisfied 
with  the  terms.  The  result  was  that  while  part  of  the 
workmen  re-entered  their  employment  in  the  morning, 
the  larger  part  did  not.  A  mob  of  five  or  six  thousand 
men,  including  many  of  the  rough  element  of  the  city 
who  were  not  employees,  gathered  in  a  vacant  lot  not 
far  from  the  works. 

All  at  once  this  mob  came  rushing  down  the  street. 
There  could  be  no  other  thought  than  that  they  intend- 
ed to  break  down  the  gates  of  the  factory  and  to  drive 
away  and  injure  the  men  actually  at  work.  I  had  been 
called  away  from  Mr.  Deering's  office,  and  at  this  mo- 
ment returned,  to  find  it  empty.  Looking  out  in  the 
street  I  saw  the  advancing  mob,  and  Mr.  Deering  stand- 
ing alone  in  front  of  the  barred  gates  of  the  works. 
His  habitual  stoop  was  gone  and  he  stood  erect,  with 
flashing  eyes.  A  few  moments  later  a  large  platoon  of 
pohce  appeared  on  the  scene  and  the  mob  was  scattered. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  6i 

I  asked  him  what  his  purpose  had  been  in  placing 
himself  in  front  of  the  gates.  He  replied  that  he  had 
done  so  in  the  belief  that  respect  for  him  would  hold  the 
mob  in  check  long  enough  to  permit  the  men  working 
in  the  factory  to  obey  the  signal  that  had  been  hastily 
given  for  them  to  leave  by  the  gate  at  the  other  end  of 
the  works.  His  thought  evidently  was  that  no  matter 
what  injury  might  be  done  to  himself,  the  mob  would 
be  detained  while  inflicting  this  injury,  if  only  for  a 
brief  time. 

His  modesty  prevented  on  every  occasion  possible 
his  making  public  speeches,  yet  I  personally  fully  be- 
lieve that  by  nature  he  was  a  man  of  extraordinary 
eloquence.     Two  illustrations  of  this  I  will  give. 

I  accompanied  him  to  the  meetingwith  the  committee 
of  striking  employees.  Never  have  I  heard  more  cogent 
and  seductive  reasoning,  more  truth,  honesty,  and 
sincerity  than  in  his  address.  Every  element  de- 
scribed in  Emerson's  essay  on  eloquence  was  present, 
including  that  great  essential,  the  high  character  of  the 
speaker,  and  honesty  of  purpose.  The  men  were  swayed 
like  children,  and  I  myself  sat  spellbound.  The  result, 
as  already  stated,  was  that  the  strike  was  declared  off, 
and  that  those  people  who  had  not  heard  the  address 
could  not  understand  how  the  terms  had  been  accept- 
ed, so  the  committee  was  repudiated. 

Another  example  was  recounted  to  me  by  his  friend, 
Rev.  Dr.  Robert  M.  Hatfield.  It  occurred  at  some  large 
and  important  church  gathering  where  an  election  was 
to  occur.  Mr.  Deering  and  all  of  his  associates  were  con- 
vinced that  a  certain  man  was  entitled  to  this  election 
without  discussion.  They  found,  however,  that,  as  I 
recollect,  some  cabal  had  made  this  election  apparently 
impossible.  Mr.  Deering  addressed  the  meeting,  and 
his  candidate  was  elected.     Dr.   Hatfield   more  than 


62  WILLIAM   DEERING 

once  assured  me  that  his  eloquence  exceeded  anything 
that  he,  Dr.  Hatfield,  had  ever  heard,  and  he  added 
that  he  had  heard  every  great  pulpit  or  other  orator 
of  the  country  during  the  years  of  his  long  life. 

His  tenderness  for  those  who  could  not  look  out  for 
themselves  was  shown  in  the  hard  years  following  the 
panic  of  1893.  In  Chicago  common  laborers  were 
hired  for  one  dollar  a  day.  In  Milwaukee  and  other 
smaller  cities  they  were  paid  as  little  as  eighty-five  and 
even  seventy-five  cents  a  day.  Mr.  Deering  issued  an 
order  that  no  man  in  his  employ  should  receive  less  than 
one  dollar  and  thirty-five  cents  a  day,  for,  said  he,  "No 
man  can  bring  up  a  family  of  children  to  be  decent 
American  citizens  on  less."  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
this  sum  was  then  vastly  larger  in  buying  power  than 
now. 

I  never  knew,  either  of  my  own  knowledge  or  by 
hearsay,  of  his  honor  in  business  or  private  life  being 
attacked  but  once.  Innocent  as  he  was,  he  was  bowed 
with  grief  and  shame  at  the  mere  suggestion.  The 
accusation  was  all  the  more  bitter  to  him  because  it 
was  made  by  a  member  of  his  own  church  and  a 
neighbor  who  sought  the  ears  of  other  neighbors. 
After  some  months  of  litigation  the  presiding  judge 
declared  that  Mr.  Deering  had  been,  from  first  to  last, 
not  simply  just,  but  even  generous  to  his  accuser. 
This,  I  know,  was  one  of  the  greatest  gratifications 
of  Mr.  Deering's  hfe. 


A  Few  Typical  Telegrams,  Letters  and 
Resolutions 


TELEGRAMS 

Chicago,  111.,  Dec.  lo,  1913. 
Mr.  Charles  Deering,  Cocoanut  Grove,  Fla.: — 

It  was  man}'  years  ago,  in  trying  times,  that  I  learned  to 
know  and  appreciate  the  great  character  and  beautiful 
nature  of  your  father.  In  his  death  I  mourn  the  loss  of  a 
good  friend.  I  sympathize  with  your  mother  and  you  all 
in  your  irreparable  loss.  Mrs.  Cyrus  McCormick. 

Pasadena,  Calif.,  Dec.  10,  1913. 
Charles  Deering,  Cocoanut  Grove,  Fla.: — 

Thanks  for  telegram  repeated  from  Chicago.  I  consider 
it  an  honor  for  my  name  to  be  used  as  pall-bearer  at  your 
father's  funeral,  although  I  cannot  be  present  personally. 
One  of  our  greatest  and  best  of  men  has  well  finished  his 
life  work,  and  may  his  sweet  and  loving  spirit  continue  as  a 
blessing  to  us  all.  N.  W.  Harris. 

New  York,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  12,  1913. 
W.  J.  Louderback,  care  Int.  Harv.  Co.: — 

I  regret  I  cannot  be  personally  in  attendance  at  Evanston 
on  Sunday.  My  s\'mpathies  are  with  the  family  and  all  the 
friends  of  William  Deering,  who  was  one  of  the  highest 
types  of  men  I  ever  knew,  E.  H.  Gary. 

Chicago,  111.,  Dec.  10,  1913. 
Charles  and  James  Deering: — 

Mrs.  McCormick  and  I  send  you  our  deepest  sympathy. 
Your  father's  life  and  influence  constitute  one  of  the  greatest 
of  examples  of  successful  achievement  which  our  country 
affords.  All  your  and  his  friends  here  will  grieve  with  you 
in  your  great  loss.  Please  convey  to  your  mother  our  heart- 
felt sympathy.  C.  H.  McCormick. 

Chicago,  111.,  Dec.  10,  1913. 
James  Deering,  Cocoanut  Grove: — 

All  our  executive  men  unite  with  me  in  expressing  to  you 
and  }our  mother  our  heartfelt  sympathy  in  your  great  loss. 
Your  father's  life  was  marked  at  every  stage  by  exceptional 

65 


ee  WILLIAM   DEERING 

energy  and  ability;  his  great  enterprise  and  success  in  busi- 
ness was  coupled  with  a  strong  and  constant  support  of 
educational  and  religious  institutions.  He  made  a  distinct 
and  beneficent  impression  on  his  time,  the  memory  of 
which  will  be  his  enduring  monument.  The  central  office 
and  the  Deering  works  will  be  closed  on  Saturday  as  a 
tribute  of  respect  to  your  father.  Many  of  the  company 
employees  will  desire  to  attend  the  services  here,  therefore 
I  suggest  that  you  have  a  church  service. 

Cyrus  H.  McCormick, 
Pres.  International  Harvester  Co. 

New  York,  Dec.  lo,  1913. 
Charles  and  James  Deering,  Cocoanut  Grove,  Fla.: — 

It  is  given  to  few  men  to  be  of  the  great  practical  help  to 
his  fellow-men  that  your  father  was,  and  those  of  us  who 
were  fortunate  enough  to  know  something  of  the  splendid 
service  he  rendered  realize  that  a  truly  great  American  has 
been  taken  from' us.  Please  remember  me,  with  deepest 
sympathy,  to  your  mother.  Geo.  W.  Perkins. 


LETTERS 

The  following  letter  is  from  one  of  the  inventors  of  the 
Marsh  harvester: 

DeKalb,  III,,  December  13,  1913. 

Messrs.  Charles  and  James  Deering,  Chicago,  111.: 

Dear  Friends: — Your  selection  of  me  for  one  of  the  pall- 
bearers at  your  father's  funeral  is  highly  appreciated,  and 
I  much  regret  that  ill-health  will  prevent  my  attendance.  I 
have  nearly  completed  my  eightiethyear,  and  Illinois  weather 
in  the  winter,  even  when  so  mild  as  now,  bears  rather  heavily 
upon  me.  I  am  very  sorry  I  cannot  go,  for  I  want  to  manifest 
my  respect  for  you  and  3our  father;  and  now  I  would  say  a 
few  words  about  him  and  our  connection  with  him. 

In  i860  my  brother  and  I  were  trying  unsuccessfully  to 
introduce  our  recently  invented  harvester.  At  that  time 
the  trade  was  represented  by  several  classes  of  machines,  and 
the  pioneers  or  leaders  —  each  in  his  class  —  were  so  intent 
upon  the  development  and  improvement  of  their  distinctive 
and  established  lines,  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  in- 
terest them  in  anything  outside  —  especially  an  innovation 
so  radical  as  was  the  Marsh  harvester.  Hence  we  and  our 
associates  were  slow  in  getting  a  start  in  the  trade;  and  when, 
in  1870,  Mr.  Deering  became  interested  in  the  machine  it  had 
hardly  become  recognized  as  a  considerable  competitor  upon 
the  general  market  by  the  leaders  in  other  lines.  At  that 
time  the  trade  was  substantially  monopolized  by  the  Mc- 
Cormicks,  the  Whiteleys,  the  Woods,  the  Millers  and  the 
Osbornes  —  men  of  great  ability,  experience  and  wealth, 
whose  names  were  household  words  in  the  agricultural  world. 
But  the  Marsh  harvester  then  began  to  forge  ahead,  and  it 
made  such  progress  that  by  the  middle  of  the  "seventies"  it 
had  conquered  on  the  fields  of  the  Great  West,  and  the  old- 
time  leaders  were  building  it  or  adopting  its  plan.  Mr.  Deer- 
ing, though  without  previous  experience  in  this  business, 
soon  took  the  lead  in  such  conquest,  as  also  in  the  develop- 
ment and  successful  application  of  automatic  binders  to  the 

67 


68  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Marsh  harvester,  until  the  Appleby  binder  was  fully  estab- 
lished on  the  market  in  1880,  since  when,  under  various 
modifications,  this  combination  has  become  the  harvesting 
machine  of  the  world.  It  was  a  wonderful  achievement  on 
the  part  of  Mr.  Deering. 

During  this  period  common  interests  brought  me  into 
intimate  relations  with  Mr.  Deering.  I  was  soon  impressed 
by  his  strength  and  power,  by  his  great  executive  ability, 
combining  rigid  system  and  close  attention  to  details  as  well 
as  to  the  business  in  general,  and  by  his  broad  and  progressive 
views  of  the  trade;  and  I  learned  to  look  up  to  him  as  the 
leader  in  our  line,  with  a  feeling  such  as  one  would  have  for 
a  wise  older  brother.  His  great  success  later  demonstrated 
the  correctness  of  these  early  impressions,  and  though  our 
common  interests  ceased  with  the  expiration  of  the  Marsh 
patents  in  1879,  "^7  estimation  and  my  friendly  regard  for 
him  and  for  you,  his  sons,  have  never  changed.  I  have  often 
said  that  he  was  the  ablest  man  that  was  ever  engaged  in  the 
industry,  and  I  knew  them  all. 

With  kindest  regards  and  much  sympathy, 

I  am  yours  sincerely, 

C.  W.  Marsh. 

South  Bend,  Ind.,  Dec.  16,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Deering: — 

The  wonderful  life  record  of  your  honored  father,  Mr. 
William  Deering,  so  recently  brought  to  a  peaceful  close, 
has  made  more  than  a  passing  impression  on  me.  I  can 
see  so  many  things  in  his  history  that  remind  me  forcibly 
of  my  father's  life  and  passing,  that  I  feel  qualified  to  write 
you  in  the  spirit  that  I  now  do. 

You  and  all  of  his  relatives  and  friends  have  much  to  be 
proud  of  in  reviewing  the  accomplishments  of  his  eventful 
career,  and  you  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  the 
world  mourns  with  you. 

I  realize  that  words  count  for  but  little  in  the  face  of  such 
a  bereavement,  but  I  offer  to  yourself,  your  brother  Charles, 
and  the  other  members  of  your  family,  my  heartfelt  sym- 
pathy in  the  loss  you  have  sustained. 

A  man  in  every  sense  of  the  word  has  gone  from  among  us. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Jos.  D.  Oliver. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  69 

Englewood,  Blackball,  Midlothian,  Scotland 

Dec.  17,  1913. 
Dear  Mr.  Deering: — 

Please  allow  me  to  express  my  sympathy  with  you  and 
the  other  members  of  your  family  in  the  sorrow  that  has 
overtaken  you. 

I  bad  the  privilege  and  pleasure  of  meeting  your  father 
on  two  occasions,  and  the  impression  he  made  on  me  was 
that  he  was  just  a  quiet,  thoughtful,  sagacious  Scotsman, 
although  be  was  born  in  the  state  of  Maine. 

The  farm  workers  of  all  nations  will  ever  be  bis  debtors  — 
and  be  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  epoch-making  men. 

He  was  greater  in  his  life  than  any  Caesar  or  Napoleon, 
and  through  his  efforts  mankind  has  been  blessed  with 
peace  and  plenty  to  an  extent  unknown  before. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Wm.  Poole. 

Racine,  Wis.,  Dec.  15,  1913. 
Dear  Mr.  Deering: — 

I  am  pained  to  learn  of  the  recent  passing  away  of  the 
head  of  your  house. 

His  life  meant  much  to  me,  as  in  my  younger  days  I  bad 
the  honor  of  meeting  him  and  the  great  pleasure  of  listening 
to  bis  wise  counsel. 

Those  impressions  and  thoughts  have  been  lasting,  and 
have  helped  me  in  my  business  life.  I  wish  to  extend  to  you 
my  sympathy.  Sincerely, 

Frank  K.  Bull. 

New  York,  Dec.  15,  1913. 
Dear  Mr.  Deering: — 

Among  the  many  letters  of  kind  sympathy  I  received  when 
death  took  my  father  was  one  from  you.  Now  your  turn 
has  come. 

Your  father  was  universally  loved  and  respected  because  he 
was  an  unusually  strong  and  wise  man  and  was  never  known 
under  any  circumstances  to  be  otherwise  than  fair  and 
decent  and  large-mmded.     He  was  an  old  friend  of  my  father. 

Please  believe  me  when  I  say  that  in  this  real  sorrow  you 
have  my  sincere  sympathy.  Yours  sincerely, 

T.  M.  Turner. 


70  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Boston,  Dec.  15,  1913. 
Dear  Mr.  Deering: — 

I  have  just  learned  of  the  death  of  Mr.  William  Deering 
and  it  comes  to  me  very  personally  —  very  intimately. 

Ever  since  I  left  the  Deering  Company  I  have  had  a 
growing  admiration  for  him,  although  I  thought  I  appreciated 
him  fully  while  under  him.  Many,  many  times  I  have  had 
a  great  desire  to  see  him  and  talk  with  him,  and  express  the 
gratitude  I  felt  for  the  many  evidences  of  his  consideration 
while  I  was  in  your  employ. 

It  may  be  out  of  place  to  say  all  this  to  you  now,  but  I 
can't  help  it;  it  comes  to  me  as  something  that  I  must  say, 
but  with  the  great  regret  that  I  cannot  tell  him  and  thank 
him. 

For  his  judgment  and  his  courage  in  trying  times  I  have  the 
most  profound  regard,  but  the  thing  I  most  prized  was  the 
atmosphere  of  "family-feeling"  that  extended  even  to  many 
of  the  workmen  —  a  sense  of  close  relationship  and  of  com- 
munity of  interest  that  was  inspired  by  his  personality. 

That  feeling  continues  with  me  still;  it  is  the  feeling  of 
hundreds  of  others  who,  like  me,  came  under  his  influence  — 
a  feeling  that  made  us  ready  to  fight  for  the  Deering  name 
in  the  best  way  we  knew  how. 

I  cannot  tell  you  of  the  feeling  of  indebtedness  I  have  for 
him.  I  appreciate  it  more  and  more  as  I  realize  what  my 
Deering  experience  has  meant  to  me. 

I  shall  always  honor  and  revere  that  wonderful  man  whose 
passing  has  stirred  me  as  though  he  were  my  own,  and  if  it 
were  possible  I  would  be  at  the  services,  with  the  Old  Guard, 
to  whom  he  was  an  inspiration. 

Very  sincerely, 

I.  W.  Litchfield. 

Evanston,  Illinois,  Dec.  27,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Deering: — 

I  loved  your  father  sincerely,  though  I  was  always  a  bit 
in  awe  of  him,  even  my  somewhat  assertive  light-heartedness 
being  properly  subdued  while  with  him.  I  could  not  forget, 
however,  as  I  never  can  forget,  that  it  was  your  father  who 
substantially  made  my  career  for  me.  My  relations  to  this 
school,  past  and  present,  were  made  possible  by  his  generous 
friendship.    It  was  by  his  encouragement  also  that  the  policy 


WILLIAM   DEERING  71 

of  expansion  for  the  school  was  entered  upon,  which  gave 
promise,  with  his  help,  to  put  the  school  in  the  front  rank, 
not  simply  of  the  schools  in  our  own  denomination,  but 
also  among  the  schools  of  American  Protestant  Christianity. 
Just  what  we  shall  be  able  to  do  now  that  he  is  gone,  I  do 
not  know  and,  at  present,  cannot  think.  In  a  very  intimate 
sense,  the  school  feels  that  in  his  death  "the  strong  staff  is 
broken  and  the  beautiful  rod." 

I  cannot  say  just  how  deeply  indebted  I  feel  to  the  mem- 
bers of  your  family  for  the  privilege  of  being  asked  to  share 
in  the  last  honors  to  him  whom  I  reverenced  so  deeply; 
but  for  that  and  for  their  friendship  I  am  thanking  you  to-day, 
and  shall  have  gratitude  always. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Charles  M.  Stuart, 
President  Garrett  Biblical  Institute. 

Auburn,  N.  Y.,  December  10,  1913. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Deering: 

I  was  not  surprised  to  receive  your  telegram  advising  of 
your  father's  death.  Your  recent  letter  told  of  "his  fading 
away."  I  am  most  sorry  that  owing  to  my  late  illness,  it 
will  be  quite  impossible  to  attend  his  funeral. 

Your  father  was  the  most  commanding  figure  ever  en- 
gaged in  the  harvester  business.  No  man  ever  accom- 
plished so  much.  No  man  ever  made  so  large  a  fortune  in 
the  manufacture  of  machinery  for  gathering  the  grain  crops 
of  the  world.  His  life  work  was  devoted  to  this  one  purpose 
and  his  profits  all  came  from  that  one  source. 

It  has  been  said  of  him  that  he  was  a  great  merchant — of 
this  there  is  no  question;  he  was  more;  he  was  a  great  manu- 
facturer as  well  because  he  seemed  instinctively  to  know 
what  was  needed  of  him  and  his  machinery  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  the  entire  agricultural  world.  He  was  a 
great  organizer,  and  when  his  organization  put  before  him  a 
mower,  a  reaper  or  a  harvester,  he  knew  when  and 
how  to  tell  them,  "That  is  what  we  will  build  for  the  next 
harvest."  His  mind  had  the  largest  grasp  of  a  subject  in 
which  he  was  vitally  interested.  He  had  the  greatest 
courage,  the  largest  mental  resources,  with  infinite  tact, 
with  which  to  reach  his  ends  of  any  man  I  ever  knew. 

The  devotion  of  his  sons  to  him  and  his  welfare,  their 


72  WILLIAM   DEERING 

absolute  confidence  in  his  purposes,  their  great  love  for  him 
and  his  devoted  love  for  them  and  all  his  family  were 
among  the  chiefest  of  his  accomplishments,  I  beg  to  extend 
to  you  all  my  sincerest  sympathy  in  your  great  loss. 

Faithfully  yours, 

G.  W.  Allen. 


RESOLUTIONS 

RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  AT  A  MEETING  OF  THE  BOARD  OF 
DIRECTORS  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  HARVESTER  COM- 
PANY   OF    NEW  JERSEY,    HELD    DECEMBER    12,   I9I3. 

On  motion,  duly  made  and  seconded,  the  following 
resolution  was  adopted: — 

Whereas,  After  a  long,  useful,  and  upright  career,  crowded 
with  the  satisfaction  of  honorable  achievement,  William 
Deering,  one  of  the  first  directors  of  this  company,  died  at 
Miami,  Florida,  December  9,  1913,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years,  and 

Whereas,  The  members  of  this  Board,  his  former  associ- 
ates, deem  it  meet  and  proper  that  some  record  should  here 
be  made  testifying  to  his  worth  and  to  the  loss  we  feel,  and 
bearing  to  those  who  were  near  and  dear  to  him  some  evi- 
dence of  our  sympath}-;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That,  knowing  William  Deering  and  his  life  work 
with  such  knowledge  as  comes  through  years  of  business  and 
personal  association,  we  feel  that  by  his  death  the  nation 
has  lost  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  useful  pioneers  in 
an  industry  that  has  ever  made  for  the  benefit  of  mankind; 
that  the  state  and  community  have  lost  an  honorable,  right- 
minded,  and  generous  citizen;  and  that  this  company  has  lost 
a  friend  and  adviser  of  rare  ability  and  wisdom,  and  be  it 
further 

Resolved,  That  to  Mrs.  Deering  and  to  our  associates  on 
this  Board,  Charles  Deering,  James  Deering,  and  Richard 
F.  Howe,  we  extend  our  deepest  sympathy. 


WILLIAM  DEERING 

Among  other  works  of  public  benefit,  due  wholly  or  in  part 
to  the  benevolences  of  William  Deering,  not  the  least  im- 
portant is  Wesley  Hospital.  It  may  be  said  without  dis- 
paragement to  other  noble  and  generous  men  and  women 
who  have  aided  in  this  great  enterprise  that  but  for  the 

73 


74  WILLIAM   DEERING 

liberality  of  Mr.  Deering  and  his  wise  counsel  in  planning, 
the  hospital,  if  existing  at  all,  would  be  very  far  from  having 
attained  the  magnificent  proportions  which  distinguish  it 
to-day.  To  him  more  than  to  any  other  person  is  due  the 
success  of  this  institution,  which  has  already  conferred 
inestimable  blessing  upon  thousands  of  suffering  and  is 
destined  to  continue,  with  enlarging  facilities  for  helpfulness, 
to  heal  and  comfort  the  afflicted  in  all  the  years  to  come. 

As  long  as  Wesley  Hospital  stretches  forth  a  beckoning 
hand  to  the  sick  and  suffering  of  every  creed  and  condition, 
it  typifies  the  large-hearted  sympathy  of  its  founder,  whose 
sole  motive  in  the  giving  of  his  wealth  was  the  saving  of  life 
and  the  alleviation  of  the  "ills  that  human  flesh  is  heir  to." 

It  is,  therefore,  fitting  that  the  trustees  and  friends  of 
Wesley  Hospital  should  place  on  record  their  grateful  appre- 
ciation of  the  kindly  interest  and  generous  gifts  of  Mr.  Deer- 
ing and  place  a  wreath  of  unfading  flowers  on  the  casket  of 
him  who  in  this  work  of  benevolence  has  followed  the  exam- 
ple of  the  Master  whom  he  served,  causing  the  lame  to  walk, 
the  blind  to  see,  and  the  sick  to  be  made  whole.  Therefore 
be  it 

Resolved,  First,  that  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Deering,  Wesley 
Hospital  has  lost  a  generous  benefactor,  a  wise  counselor, 
and  a  faithful  supporter  and  friend.  Second,  that  a  memo- 
rial tablet  bearing  a  suitable  inscription  be  placed  in  the 
reception  parlor  of  the  hospital  in  grateful  recognition  of  his 
invaluable  service  to  his  fellow-men. 

Perley  Lowe,  J.  Shelley  Meyer, 

Edwin  L.  Wagner,  Oliver  H.  Horton, 

Arthur  Dixon,  F.  J.  Thielbar, 

William  A.  Dyche,  H.  G.  Eckstein, 

E.  S.  GiLMORE, 

Executive  Committee. 


Whereas,  It  has  pleased  All-wise  Providence  to  remove 
from  this  transitory  habitation  to  a  place  of  eternal  rest  and 
peace,  Mr.  William  Deering,  and 

Whereas,  we  realize  that  his  family  has  lost  a  true  and 
kind  husband  and  father,  the  city  one  of  its  best  and  most 
respected  citizens,  and  the  world  a  real  benefactor  of 
mankind,  therefore  be  it 


WILLIAM   DEERING  75 

Resolved,  That  the  Piano  Works  Foremen's  Club  extend 
to  the  bereaved  family  of  Mr.  William  Deering  its  sincere 
and  heartfelt  sympathy  and  condolence  in  this  hour  of  sor- 
row, trusting  that  they  can  find  consolation  in  knowing  that 
the  world  is  better  because  Mr.  Deering  lived  in  it,  that  his 
life,  his  character,  his  noble  and  steady  purpose  of  mind  are 
a  shining  example  for  others  to  follow,  and  that  his  many 
good  and  charitable  deeds  will  never  be  forgotten. 

W.  H.  Lydamore 
Geo.  E.  Kennedy 
Martin  Anderson 
Committee  Piano  Works  Foremen  s  Club. 

Dated  at  West  Pullman,  this  12th  day  of  December,  1913. 


IN  MEMORIAM 

Whereas,  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  remove  from 
our  midst  Mr.  William  Deering,  who  passed  away  at  Miami, 
Florida,  December  9,  1913,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years; 

And  Whereas,  at  a  meeting  of  the  old  employees  of  the 
Deering  Harvester  Company  held  at  the  office  of  the  Deer- 
ing works.  International  Harvester  Company  of  New  Jersey, 
Chicago,  Illinois,  December  11,  1913,  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted; 

And  Whereas,  we,  the  former  employees  of  William  Deer- 
ing who  have  seen  this  business  grow  practically  from  its 
infancy  and  developed  into  a  far-reaching  and  world-wide 
organization  under  his  guidance,  and  that  in  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  in  his  removal  from  this  earthly  sphere  the  coun- 
try has  lost  one  of  its  strongest  pillars  in  the  manufacturing 
and  educational  world,  his  employees  a  true  friend,  and  his 
family  a  model  husband  and  father;     therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  it  is  but  a  just  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
William  Deering  to  say  that  in  regretting  his  removal  from 
this  plane  of  life,  we  mourn  for  one  most  worthy  of  our 
greatest  respect  and  regard,  and  that  we,  his  old  employees, 
extend  our  heartfelt  S}'mpathy  to  the  bereaved  widow  and 
family  in  their  loss,  and  feel  that  it  may  be  a  source  of  com- 
fort to  them  to  know  that  the  great  number  of  employees  who 


^d  WILLIAM   DEERING 

worked  for  him  during  the  early  struggle  for  success  feel  a 
kindred  sorrow  in  his  death;  and  be  it  further 

Resolved,  that  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  published  in 
the  Chicago  papers,  and  a  suitably  engrossed  copy  thereof  be 
presented  to  the  bereaved  family. 

George  W.  Lincoln  G.  L.  Phelps 

J.  E.  Merrion  J.  W.  Latimer 

H.  F.  Stemman  Edward  Keenan 

J.  K.  Grill  P.  Wittlinger 

M.  A.  Rink  W.  R.  Howe 

Committee 


To 

WILLIAM  DEERING 

on  His  Seventieth  Birthday, 
April  25th,  1896, 

from 

The  Trustees  and  Faculty  of 

Garrett  Biblical  Institute 


The  Trustees  and  Faculty  of  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  to  their 
honored  President  and  faithful  frietid,  William  Deering, 
Greeting: — 

We  welcome  gladly  the  opportunity  given  us  by  the  com- 
pletion of  your  seventieth  year  to  assure  you  of  our  high 
esteem  and  our  grateful  regard. 

We  rejoice  in  your  strength  and  in  your  prosperity,  in 
your  remarkable  activities  and  in  your  thoughtful  benevo- 
lence. 

For  sixteen  years  you  have  served  us  as  Trustee,  our  stead- 
fast, sagacious,  energetic  friend,  wise  in  counsel,  prompt  and 
generous  to  help. 

We  bring  you  our  earnest  wishes  for  your  future  happiness. 
May  you  abide  among  us  many  years  and  may  the  Father  of 
mercies  make  your  days  abound  in  tokens  of  His  kindness 
and  in  pledges  of  His  unfailing  care. 


s?' 


THE  DEERING  WORKS,  CHICAGO.  IN   igoi  WHEN  MR,  DEERING  RETIRED  FROM  ACTIVE  WORK 


To 

WILLIAM  DEERING 

on  His  Seventieth  Birthday 

from 

The  Board  of  Trustees  and  the  Faculty 

of 
Northwestern  University 


ADDRESS  OF   BOARD   OF  TRUSTEES 

To  Mr.  William  Deering,  Our  Associate,  Comrade,  Friend: — 
Your  associates  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Northwestern 
University  on  the  occurrence  of  your  seventieth  birthday 
anniversary  send  you  kindly  greetings,  messages  of  good 
cheer,  and  heartfelt  congratulations — greetings  expressive  ot 
a  profound,  sincere,  and  permanent  regard  which  is  the  neces- 
sary sequence  of  years  of  personal  acquaintance  and  associa- 
tion, greetings  commemorative  of  those  delightful  associa- 
tions due  to  our  common  interest  in  an  enterprise  of  such 
merit  and  value  as  the  establishment  of  a  great  university; 
messages  which  bear  to  you  assurances  of  our  sincere  and 
earnest  desire  for  your  continued  good  health,  comfort,  and 
prosperity;  congratulations  that  a  life  so  replete  with 
deeds  of  kindness  and  benevolence  has  reached  that 
station  which  sentiment  and  tradition  unite  to  render 
notable,  possessed  of  such  abundant  physical  and  intel- 
lectual resources,  and  endowed  with  so  enviable  a  family 
history  as  to  afford  a  well-grounded  assurance  that  its  prog- 
ress is  to  be  indefinitely  extended. 

Grouping  these  delightful  memories,  pleasant  associations, 
and  bright  anticipations,  we  find  abundant  reason  to  rejoice 
and  be  glad,  and  thus  rejoicing  do  we  gratefully  bring  to  you 
these  messages  of  love  and  hope  and  of  good  cheer. 

The  m.ore  than  quarter  of  a  century  of  service  which  you 
have  given  to  the  interests  of  Northwestern  University  covers 
the  most  eventful  period  of  its  history.  During  these  years 
its  resources,  its  work,  and  its  influence  have  so  expanded  and 
developed  that  it  now  takes  its  position  not  only  as  the  most 
important  educational  institution  of  Methodism,  but  right- 
fully claims  to  rank  with  the  foremost  universities  of  our 
land.  This  growth  and  expansion  are  the  result  of  a  vigor- 
ous and  wise  administration  of  university  affairs.  Aided  in 
no  small  degree  by  your  generous  contributions,  the  crises 
in  its  history  seem  to  have  been  safely  passed  and  a  future  of 
ever  increasing  usefulness  and  power  seems  to  be  thoroughly 
assured.     Your  contributions  have  been  varied  and  have 

83 


84  WILLIAM   DEERING 

been  often  repeated.  They  embrace  generous  gifts  of  money 
which  were  frequently  so  aptly  timed  that  their  real  value 
far  exceeded  the  commercial  terms  in  which  they  find  expres- 
sion on  the  books  of  the  Corporation  Treasurer.  Added  to 
these  have  been  gifts  of  time  and  thought  and  care  and  busi- 
ness acumen  and  skill,  without  which  the  gifts  of  money 
might  perhaps  have  failed  in  their  purpose  and  mission — 
and  all  of  these  have  been  supplemented  and  emphasized 
by  a  personal  influence  and  support,  the  value  of  which  it  is 
impossible  to  estimate. 

Right  worthily  is  your  name  grouped  with  those  of  Lunt 
and  Evans  in  a  trinity  which  will  ever  challenge  the  love  and 
the  reverence  of  the  friends  of  Northwestern  University. 

Only  a  few  of  the  names  which  constituted  the  Muster 
Roll  of  University  Trustees  when  you  first  entered  its  service 
now  appear  upon  the  record.  At  each  successive  roll-call 
some  of  the  older  names  drop  out  and  new  names  appear 
upon  this  list.  Some  are  so  new  to  the  work  that  they 
scarcely  yet  feel  themselves  to  be  adjusted  to  their  positions 
or  equipped  for  the  duties  to  which  they  have  been  assigned. 
But  in  the  heartiness  of  these  congratulations,  in  the  sin- 
cerity of  their  friendships,  in  their  admiration  of  your  per- 
sonal worth  and  character,  and  in  their  appreciation  of  the 
splendid  services  you  have  rendered  to  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity, the  veterans  and  the  recruits  are  united  in  a  harmony 
that  discloses  no  discordant  note. 

That  a  life  so  rich  in  good  works  and  kindly  deeds  may 
be  long  prolonged,  and  that  the  years  may  come  to  you  laden 
with  health,  honor,  peace,  love,  and  joy,  will  be  the  constant 
and  oft  repeated  prayer  of  those  of  your  friends  whose  privi- 
lege it  is  to  unite  in  this  address. 

Orrington  Lunt  N.  S.  Davis,  Jr. 

O.  H.  HoRTON  Wm.  a.  Dyche 

Frank  P.  Crandon  J.  W.  Doane 

Geo.  H.  Foster  Lyman  J.  Gage 

John  B.  Kirk  H.  H.  C.  Miller 

F.  M.  Bristol  Henry  S.  Towle 

James  H.  Raymond  Alexander  H.  Revell 

Henry  Wade  Rogers  James  B.  Hobbs 

J.  J.  Parkhurst  H.  N.  Higginbotham 

Nathan  S.  Davis  Arthur  Edwards 

Charles  Busby 


ADDRESS   FROM  THE   FACULTIES   OF 
NORTHWESTERN  UNIVERSITY 

To  Mr.  William  Deering  on  the  seventieth  anniversary  of  his 
birth,  greetings  and  congratulations  from  the  Faculties  of 
Northzcestern  University: 

The  Faculties  cannot  allow  this  occasion  to  pass  without 
an  expression  of  their  admiration  of  your  character  and  their 
appreciation  of  your  services  to  the  University  with  which 
you  have  been  for  many  years  connected. 

The  ability,  energy,  and  industry  which  have  won  for  you 
fortune  and  honor,  your  strict  integrity  and  your  faithful- 
ness in  all  the  relations  of  life,  command  their  high  regard. 
The  modesty  that  shrinks  from  all  public  acknowledgment 
of  your  gracious  deeds,  and  the  love  for  letters  which  has 
characterized  you  even  in  the  midst  of  your  active  business 
career,  have  attracted  their  attention  and  won  their  esteem. 

They  congratulate  themselves  on  your  many  benefactions 
to  the  University.  They  recall  with  gratitude  your  gifts 
to  the  cause  of  education.  Because  of  what  you  have  done 
it  has  been  made  possible  for  many  to  become  wiser  and  more 
useful  men  and  women.  Wealth  can  be  devoted  to  no  better 
purpose  than  to  expend  it  as  you  have  done  for  the  education 
of  the  youth,  thus  fitting  them  for  honorable  and  useful 
service. 

The  Faculties  thank  you  for  your  devotion  to  all  the  inter- 
ests of  the  University,  for  the  wisdom  of  your  counsel  and 
for  your  support  of  whatever  has  promised  to  make  the 
University  great.  They  are  glad  to  acknowledge  that  its 
growth  and  prosperity  have  been  made  possible  in  large 
measure  by  the  interest  you  have  manifested  in  its  affairs. 

They  congratulate  you  on  having  attained  the  age  of  sev- 
enty years.  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the 
Lord,  and  as  you  have  been  led  in  times  past,  so  may  you 
continue  to  be  led  in  the  time  to  come. 

The  Faculties  wish  you  health,  happiness  and  length  of 
days. 


86 


WILLIAM   DEERING 


"May  Age  steal  on 
With  softly  cadenced  feet." 

May  yours  be 

"A  life  of  leisure  and  broad  hours 
To  think  and  dream 

To  wander  like  a  bee  among  the  flowers 
Till  old  age  find  you  weary,  feet  and  wings 
Grown  heavy  with  the  gold  of  many  thoughts." 

The  Faculties  offer  you  this  address  and  beg  you  to 
accept  it  as  an  expression  of  their  grateful  appreciation  of 
the  services  you  have  rendered  to  the  University  and  to  the 
cause  of  learning  as  well  as  in  evidence  of  their  affectionate 
regard. 

May  the  Lord  lift  up  the  light  of  his  countenance  upon 
you  and  give  you  peace. 


Henry  Wade  Rogers 

Daniel  Bonbright 

Oliver  Marcy 

Herbert  F.  Fisk 

RoBT.  L.  Cumnock 

Robert  Baird 

C.  W.  Pearson 

RoBT.  D.  Sheppard 

A.  V.  E.  Young 

G.  W.  Hough 

James  T.  Hatfield 

Chas.  B.  Atwell 

Henry  Crew 

J.  Scott  Clark 

John  H.  Gray 

George  A.  Coe 

Emily  F.  Wheeler 

A.  R.  Crook 

Henry  S.  White 

Thomas  F.  Holgate 

H.  C.  Stanclift 

William  Caldwell 

Wm.  a.  Tracy 

Emily  Huntington  Miller 


Hiram  B.  Loomis 
Henry  Cohn 
Arthur  H.  Wilde 
Mary  L.  Freeman 

WiNFIELD    S.  NiCKERSON 

E.  A.  Bechtel 

L.  R.  HiGGINS 

Nathan  S.  Davis 
Jno.  E.  Owens 
E.  C.  Dudley 
J.  B.  De  Lee 

T.  B.  SWARTZ 

N.  S.  Davis,  Jr. 
Frank  Billings 
Frank  Seward  Johnson 
Weber  Van  Hook 
Geo.  W.  Webster 
H.  Grade E 
Elbert  Wing 
WiNFIELD  S.  Hall 
Stanley  P.  Black 
Dr.  Joseph  Zeisler 
S.  J.  Jones 
Arthur  R.  Edwards 


WILLIAM   DEERING 


87 


E.  Wyllys  Andrews 

Ralph  N.  Isham 

A.  E.  Halstead 

Otto  L.  Schmidt 

Geo.  S.  Isham 

W.  E.  Casselberry 

John  H.  Long 

John  Ridlon 

}.  D.  Rawlings 

Frank  X.  Walls 

S.  C.  Plummer 

Isaac  A.  Abt 

Chas.  F.  Weir 

Edward  Avery  Harriman 

Blewett  Lee 

Harvey  B.  Hurd 

John  H.  Wigmore 

Edwin  Burritt  Smith 

James  De  Witt  Andrews 

Julian  W.  Mack 

Oscar  Oldberg 

Edgar  D.  Swain 

Edmund  Noyes 

G.  V.  Black 

Geo.  H.  Gushing 

Thos.  L.  Gilmer 

A.  E.  Matteson 

Geo.  W.  Haskins 

D.  M.  Cattell 


L.  B.  Hayman 
Geo.  J.  Dennis 
Elgin  MaWhinney 
Wm.  G.  Stearns, 

W.  W.  We  NT  WORTH 

Frederick  Menge 
H.  P.  Wadsworth 

C.  E.  Sayre 
P.  C.  Boomer 
P.  F.  Burns 
Franklin  R.  Houston 
Chas.  W.  Richardson 
Frederick  B.  Noyes 
W.  S.  Bagley 

L.  a,  Edwards 
I.  N.  Danforth 

D.  R.  Brower 

David  Wilson  Graham 

E.  Fletcher  Ingals 
Marie  J.  Mergler 
Jerome  H.  Salisbury 
Eliza  H.  Root 
John  Edwin  Rhodes 
Rachel  F.  Carr 
George  Frank  Butler 
Leonard  L. Skelton 
George  H.  Weaver 
James  C.  Gill 
Franklin  C.  Wells 


To 
WILLIAM  DEERING 

on  His  Seventieth  Birthday 

from  the 

Pastor  and  Official  Members 

of  the 

First  Methodist  Church 

of 

Evanston,  Illinois 


TO  WILLIAM  DEERING 

April  twenty-sixth,  1896 

Mr.  William  Deering. 

Beloved  Brother:  The  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  Evanston,  Illinois,  represented  by  its  pastor  and  official 
members,  desires  on  the  approach  of  this  your  seventieth 
birthday  to  extend  to  you  most  affectionate  salutations  and 
hearty  congratulations. 

For  twenty-five  years  of  the  happy  and  useful  seventy 
with  which  God  has  favored  you  we  have  been  blessed  with 
your  fellowship  and  counsel.  You  have  gone  in  and  out 
among  us  exemplifying  those  virtues  which  it  is  the  mission 
of  the  Church  to  set  forth  as  the  richest  adornment  and  high- 
est reward  of  Christian  character.  Having  early  chosen  the 
Wisdom  which  is  from  above,  you  have  lived  to  prove  that 
"length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand;  and  in  her  left  hand 
riches  and  honor." 

Your  natural  and  manly  aversion  to  personal  laudation, 
even  from  those  who  love  }ou  as  a  brother  and  honor  you  as 
a  benefactor,  will  not,  we  trust,  prevent  your  accepting,  in 
the  spirit  with  which  it  is  sent,  this  expression  of  our  admira- 
tion of  the  high  integrity  and  humaneness  which  have  dis- 
tinguished your  prosperous  business  career  and  of  our  ap- 
preciation of  the  benevolence  and  philanthropy  which, 
though  as  unostentatious  as  they  have  been  generous,  have 
reflected  honor  upon  the  Church  of  which  you  are  a  member 
and  upon  the  community  of  which  you  are  a  citizen. 

We  rejoice  that  having  reached  a  good  age  }ou  are  still  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  health  and  vigor  which  promise  you 
many  years  of  useful  activity  and  happiness. 

Ma\'  the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  has  been 
the  inspiration  of  your  life,  fill  all  your  future  days  with  light 
and  peace!  In  the  love  of  God  and  in  the  love  of  men  may 
you  ever  enjoy  the  reward  of  faith  and  faithfulness.  It  is 
our  prayer,  honored  and  beloved  brother,  that  in  the  strength 
of  a  mighty  faith,  in  the  joy  of  a  glorious  hope,  in  the  sweet 

91 


92  WILLIAM   DEERING 

satisfaction  of  an  abounding  charity  and  in  the  sanctifying 
fellowship  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Son  of  God  you  may 
prove  to  life's  end — to  life's  triumphant  end — that  "the 
path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light  which  shineth  more 
and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 

Labor  and  Sorrow,  wrote  the  Psalmist's  pen, 
This  is  the  sum  of  all  life  brings  to  men. 
Swift  as  the  weaver's  shuttle,  day  by  day. 
Fly,  with  their  bootless  tasks,  his  years  away. 

But  they  whose  years  with  blessing  crown  their  length. 
To  youth  immortal  go  from  strength  to  strength; 
And  he  whose  toil  to  God  and  man  is  given, 
In  life's  swift  loom  shall  weave  the  robes  of  heaven. 

Emily  Huntington  Miller. 


ADDRESS 

from  the 

Board  of  Trustees 

of  the 

Chicago  Home  Missionary  and 

Church  Extension  Society 


TO  WILLIAM  DEERING 

On  His  Seventieth  Birthday 

As  Trustees  of  the  Chicago  Home  Missionary  and  Church 
Extension  Society,  we  desire  to  express  our  recognition  of  an 
event  in  the  life  of  one  to  whom  our  hearts  go  out  in  earnest 
love.  We  appreciate  the  fact  that  it  is  an  important  occa- 
sion in  any  life  to  reach  the  allotted  period  of  threescore  and 
ten,  but  to  have  fifty  of  such  years  spent  in  the  work  of  the 
Master,  as  well  as  in  advancing  the  cause  of  education,  and 
in  a  most  earnest  and  successful  endeavor  to  uplift  and  better 
the  condition  of  mankind,  adds  a  luster  to  the  occasion, 
which  is  incapable  of  expression  in  words.  All  this  and 
much  more  can  be  said  concerning  our  brother  and  associate, 
William  Deering,  who  has  been  the  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  this  Society  since  its  organization.  Without  his 
generous  contributions,  a  very  large  portion  of  the  work 
accomplished  by  the  Society  could  not  have  been  done.  He 
will  in  a  few  days  reach  the  age  of  seventy  years,  the  period 
usually  allotted  to  human  activity,  but,  in  his  case,  not  the 
climax  of  usefulness,  for  the  gathered  sheaves  which  mark 
his  path  have  each  year  increased  in  number,  as  well  as  in 
wealth  of  golden  grain. 

Therefore,  as  an  expression  of  our  very  high  apprecia- 
tion of  this  marked  event  in  the  life  of  our  esteemed  Presi- 
dent, and  as  an  assurance  from  us  of  our  great  respect  for 
him  and  for  his  noble  life  work,  be  it  by  us,  as  a  Board  of 
Trustees,  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  extend  to  our  President, 
William  Deering,  our  most  earnest  congratulations  upon 
his  having  attained  the  age  of  threescore  and  ten  years,  and 
express  our  high  appreciation  of  the  great  work  which  he 
has  accomplished  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  of  missions, 
of  the  alleviation  of  human  suffering  in  the  encouragement  of 
medical  science,  of  the  growth  of  university  education,  of 
the  establishment  of  libraries,  building  of  churches  and  gen- 
eral betterment  of  the  condition  of  mankind. 

95 


96  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Resolved,  further.  That  it  is  our  most  earnest  and  prayer- 
ful hope  that  a  kind  Providence  may  vouchsafe  to  him  many 
years  of  health  and  happiness,  so  that  our  Society  may  have 
the  benefit  of  his  wise  counsel,  as  well  as  the  inspiration  of 
having  with  us  one  whose  life  and  whose  life  work  afford  such 
an  example  of  the  amount  of  good  which  can  be  done  in  be- 
half of  the  cause  of  Christ  and  humanity  by  one  person  with- 
in the  years  which  have  been  allotted  to  man. 

Resolved,  further,  That  this  action  of  our  Board  be  spread 
upon  the  records  of  our  Society;  also  that  an  engrossed 
copy  be  delivered  to  our  beloved  President,  after  being  signed 
by  the  Trustees  in  attendance  on  the  adoption  hereof. 

(Signed) 

James  B.  Hobbs,  D.  J.  McMullen 

Vice-President  Lewis  Curts 

Luke  Hitchcock  J.  H,  Manny 

M.  H.  Wilson  Henry  S.  Towle 

H.  N.  HiGGINBOTHAM  HoRACE    A.  GOODRICH 

Hiram  J.  Thompson  Frank  P.  Crandon 

H.  G.  Jackson  N.  W.  Harris 

G.  F.  Swift  Charles  Busby 

John  Farson  R.  E.  Brownell 

A.  D.  Traneller  R.  P.  Hollett 

William  Henry  Burns  D.  W.  Potter 

Robert  W.  Vasey  James  S.  Harvey 

O.  H.  Horton  Geo.  W.  Chamberlin 

Edmund  W.  Burke 


To 
WILLIAM  DEERING 

on  his  retirement  from  the  presidency 

of  the 

Board  of  Trustees 

of 

Garrett  Biblical  Institute 


MEMORIAL  OF  TRUSTEES  OF  GARRETT 
BIBLICAL   INSTITUTE 

Evanston,  December  20,  1899. 
Mr.  William  Deering, 

Dear  Sir  and  Friend: — 
The  secretaryship  of  the  Board  of  Garrett  BibHcal  Insti- 
tute Trustees  secures  to  me  the  privilege  of  transmitting  to 
you  the  accompanying  testimonial  of  the  sincere  regard  and 
esteem  of  your  associates. 

A  more  grateful  service,  or  one  which  could  yield  me 
a  greater  pleasure,  could  not  have  been  assigned  to  me,  and 
in  requesting  your  acceptance  of  our  token  of  good  will, 
I  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  to  add  to  an  official  mes- 
sage my  personal  assurance  of  an  appreciation  which  no 
form  of  testimonial  can  adequately  express. 

Ever  and  always  yours, 
(Signed)  Frank  P.  Crandon,  Secretary. 

The  associates  of  Mr.  William  Deering  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  yielding  only  to  his 
urgent  and  repeated  requests,  have  with  almost  unspeakable 
reluctance  acquiesced  at  last  in  his  desire  to  retire  from  its 
presidency.  So  intimately  has  Mr.  Deering's  personality 
become  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  Institute  that  any 
action  modifying,  however  slightly,  his  relation  to  its  inter- 
ests must  be  assented  to  with  hesitation  and  accepted  with 
poignant  regret. 

The  term  of  his  service  on  the  Board  of  Institute  Trustees, 
antedating  that  of  any  of  his  present  colleagues,  brought 
him  at  its  beginning  into  official  relations  with  the  founders 
of  the  school.  In  1S87,  as  successor  to  the  Hon.  Grant 
Goodrich,  he  accepted  the  office  that  he  this  day  resigns. 
The  presidency  of  William  Deering  and  that  of  Grant  Good- 
rich cover  the  entire  period  that  has  elapsed  since  the 
Institute  was  founded.  Modern  Methodism  furnishes  no 
other  group  of  laymen  so  notable,  so  representative  of  the 

99 


loo  WILLIAM   DEERING 

sagacity,  loyalty,  hopefulness,  and  well-grounded  faith  in 
which  the  noblest  church  enterprises  have  ever  been  under- 
taken as  the  little  company  of  men  to  whom  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute  is  indebted  for  its  organization,  who  fostered  its 
beginnings  and  who  formulated  and  maintained  the  policy 
by  which  its  financial  interests  have  been  furthered  and 
firmly  established.  They  brought  to  the  administration  of 
its  affairs  a  devotion,  a  sagacity  and  a  Christian  zeal  that 
have  seldom  been  equaled.  Unostentatiously,  with  un- 
faltering faith  and  patience,  they  set  about  the  work  of 
helping  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men.  They 
wrought  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Divine  Spirit;  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Lord  rested  upon  their  labors,  and  in  the  fruition 
of  their  toil  we  to-day  rejoice  and  are  glad.  The  pages  of 
the  Institute  records  are  marked  repeatedly  with  the  names 
of  Lunt  and  Evans,  Goodrich  and  Deering,  and  others  to 
whom  Methodism  is  indebted  for  much  of  that  which  con- 
stitutes the  sum  of  its  resources,  its  material  wealth,  and  its 
spiritual  power. 

Mr.  Deering  alone  remains  to  represent  this  remarkable 
group.  No  one  of  them  was  either  worthier  or  more  dis- 
tinguished than  he;  no  one  of  them  has  blended  more  happily 
the  wise  conservatism  and  the  progressive  enterprise  that 
have  characterized  at  every  step  the  management  of  the 
Institute.  To  Garrett,  Mr.  Deering  has  given  of  his  best. 
He  has  made  direct  gifts  to  its  treasury;  he  has  provided 
from  time  to  time  for  increasing  and  diversifying  its  depart- 
ments of  instruction;  he  has  notably  increased  its  library  by 
generous  and  invaluable  contributions.  But  he  has  en- 
riched it  also  wnth  his  personal  supervision,  bringing  to 
the  administration  of  its  aflPairs  and  to  the  development  of 
its  possibilities  a  business  acumen  and  skill  which  in  the 
commercial  world  stand  almost  unrivaled,  and  throughout 
the  years  of  his  connection  with  the  school  he  has  made  it 
practicable  by  his  beneficence  for  earnest  Christian  men  of 
slender  means  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages  offered 
by  the  Institute  for  ministerial  training,  so  that  many  of  the 
efficient  pulpits  of  to-day  are  eloquent  witnesses  of  his  wise 
and  discriminating  liberality.  So  gracious  and  so  kindly  has 
been  his  administration  of  the  office  which  he  now  relin- 
quishes that  in  all  our  official  relations  we  seemed  to  forget 
the  president,  in  the  presence  of  an  ever  genial,  helpful, 


WILLIAM   DEERING  loi 

sympathizing  associate  and  friend;  and  although  his  title 
now  necessarily  passes  to  another,  so  long  as  he  remains 
with  us,  he  must  in  a  most  important  sense  continue  to  be 
our  chieftain  as  well  as  our  faithful  counselor  and  almost 
unerring  guide.  We  are  grateful  for  the  vigorous  manhood 
which  justifies  our  anticipation  that  to  Garrett  will  he  long 
continued  the  helpfulness  of  his  counsels  and  the  inspiration 
of  his  presence.  We  remind  ourselves  that  throughout  the 
church  and  in  many  lands  his  name  is  a  synonym  for  Christian 
excellence,  and  we  unite  in  assuring  him  that  among  the 
hosts  of  admirers  who  here  and  elsewhere  delight  to  do 
him  honor,  there  are  none  more  appreciative,  none  more 
sincere,  and  none  who  hold  him  in  greater  reverence  and 
esteem  than  do  his  associates  on  this  board  of  trustees. 

(Signed)     Robert  Sheppard, 
Oliver  H.  Horton, 
Frank  P.  Crandon, 
Amos  W.  Patten, 
Charles  J.  Little,  Trustees. 


Some  Press  Comments  on  the  Death 

of 

William  Deering 


PRESS   COMMENTS  ON  THE  DEATH 
OF  WILLIAM  DEERING 

Miami  {Fla.)  Metropolis,  December  lo,  igij 

William  Deering,  whose  name  has  become  familiar 
throughout  the  world  through  his  connection  with  the  man- 
ufacture of  harvesting  implements,  died  at  eleven  o'clock 
last  night  in  the  modest  little  home  at  Cocoanut  Grove 
where  he  spent  several  winters  and  to  which  he  came  some 
six  weeks  ago  in  the  hope  that  the  mild  climate  would  sus- 
tain his  life  for  a  while  longer. 

With  his  wife  and  his  two  sons,  Charles  and  James,  and 
the  attending  physician,  Dr.  P.  T.  Skaggs,  at  his  bedside, 
the  end  came  quietly  and  peacefully.  It  had  been  expected 
at  any  moment  for  the  last  two  days.  Arrangements  are 
being  made  for  a  special  car  to  take  the  body  to  Evanston, 
Illinois,  where  the  funeral  services  will  be  held. 

Mr.  Deering  was  a  man  of  simple  tastes,  unostentatious 
life,  and  kindly  character.  His  long  life  he  attributed  to 
his  simple  mode  of  living. 

Chicago  Post,  December  lo,  1913 

All  Evanston  is  in  mourning  to-day  over  the  death  of 
William  Deering,  the  veteran  harvester  manufacturer,  who 
died  last  night  at  his  winter  home  in  Miami,  Florida.  Rev. 
Dr.  A.  W.  Patten,  chaplain  at  the  Northwestern  University, 
spoke  of  Mr.  Deering's  life  in  the  chapel  services  this  morn- 
ing, and  the  work  at  the  university  will  be  stopped  either 
to-morrow  or  Friday  while  services  will  be  held. 

As  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  William  Deering, 
the  Deering  works  a|id  the  general  offices  of  the  International 
Harvester  Company  of  New  Jersey  will  be  closed  all  day  on 
Saturday. 

His  rise  in  the  business  world  is  considered  miraculous  by 
close  friends.  Late  in  life  he  entered  the  harvester  business, 
of  which  he  knew  nothing  at  all,  and,  due  to  his  business 

105 


io6  WILLIAM   DEERING 

instincts,  was  able  to  amass  a  fortune.    He  was  a  member  of 
the  old  school  of  financiers. 

Mr.  Deering  went  into  a  new  business  when  his  associates 
who  had  grown  up  with  him  were  retiring  on  modest  incomes. 
He  was  then  fifty  years  old.  Other  things  he  was  able  to  do 
puzzled  his  physicians  late  in  his  life.  It  is  said  he  survived 
three  generations  of  family  doctors,  including  those  practicing 
in  his  childhood.  The  last  generation  of  them  confessed 
him  "a  physiological  miracle."  He  grew  stronger  with  the 
passing  years  and  his  business  competitors  declared  his 
shrewd  brain  was  keener  after  he  had  passed  the  threescore 
and  ten  mark  than  ever  before. 

The  Deering  company  was  finally  merged  with  the  Inter- 
national. Mr.  Deering  was  seventy-five  years  old,  and  he  fell 
ill.  Any  illness  is  thought  grave  at  that  age,  and  Mr.  Deering 
was  convinced  by  sheer  logic  of  his  years  that  he  could  not 
long  survive.  He  disposed  of  his  property,  therefore,  giving 
it  all,  undivided,  to  his  two  sons  and  son-in-law,  Richard 
Howe.  The  merger  was  made  after  that  —  and  William 
Deering  got  well. 

In  1900,  after  he  had  exhibited  his  automobile  harvesting 
machine  in  Paris,  he  was  made  an  officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor.  He  also  received  an  official  certificate  of  honor, 
the  grand  prize,  and  six  gold  medals.  His  machine  took 
more  prizes  than  any  other  exhibit  of  its  kind  at  the  expo- 
sition. 

Although  Mr.  Deering  never  sought  public  office,  he  had 
served  in  the  councils  of  Governors  Perham  and  Chamberlin 
of  Maine.  He  v/as  well  known  for  his  knowledge  of  public 
affairs. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  honorary  president  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Northwestern  University  and 
Garrett  Biblical  Institute. 

Chicago  Journal,  December  10,  igij 

Miami,  Fla.,  Dec.  10. —  On  a  special  car,  starting  from 
this  tov.-n  to-day,  the  body  of  William  Deering,  founder  of  the 
Deering  Harvester  Company,  will  be  transported  from  this 
place  to  his  home  in  Evanston,  Illinois. 

The  death  of  the  pioneer  promoter  of  the  enormous  reaper 
industry  centering    about   Chicago  occurred  at  his  winter 


WILLIAM   DEERING  107 

home,  Cocoanut  Grove,  about  five  miles  south  of  here.  The 
milUonaire  passed  away  in  a  modest  cottage  facing  Biscayne 
Bay. 

Faith  in  the  efficiency  of  a  twine  binder  to  replace  the  old 
wire  binder,  "fiber  fingers"  and  a  New  England  trading 
instinct  piled  up  the  fortune  that  William  Deering  amassed 
in  Chicago,  ajid  which  his  death  will  distribute  among  his 
heirs. 

A  business  extending  over  the  entire  world  and  one  of 
the  largest  industrial  plants  in  the  United  States  is  the  heri- 
tage left  by  a  man  who  went  to  work  in  his  father's  mill  when 
he  was  16  years  old,  beginning  with  a  salary  of  ^f^iS  a  month, 
and  remaining  there  until  he  went  into  partnership  in  a  little 
dry-goods  store  in  Portland,  Maine. 

Both  in  his  home  in  Evanston,  where  he  had  lived  since 
1874,  ^"<^  ^^  ^^^  summer  cottage  at  Paw  Paw  Lake,  Michigan, 
Mr.  Deering  lived  very  simply,  although  it  is  estimated  that 
he  gave  over  a  million  dollars  to  Northwestern  University. 
He  was  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  United  States,  and  the  Garrett  Biblical 
Seminar)'  was  one  of  his  especial  interests.  Fisk  Hall,  which 
he  built  at  a  cost  of  $80,000,  was  named  after  a  president  of 
the  university  only  after  Mr.  Deering  had  positively  refused 
to  allow  it  to  be  named  for  himself. 

Chicago  American,  December  10,  igij 

William  Deering's  life  and  achievements  found  universal 
praise  in  Chicago  to-day.  His  career,  according  to  opinions 
voiced  by  Chicagoans  prominent  in  business  and  professional 
life,  was  remarkable,  even  in  an  age  notable  for  its  successful 
business  men  and  the  enterprises  they  have  created. 

Mr.  Deering's  biggest  success  was  made  after  he  was 
fifty  years  old.  This  fact,  pointed  out  to-day  by  David  R. 
Forgan,  president  of  the  Nationaj  City  Bank,  was  looked 
upon  by  many  as  the  most  extraordinary  lesson  of  his  life. 

"William  Deering  was  of  a  former  generation,  and  I  knew 
him  but  slightly,  but  he  was  a  man  whose  works  brought 
him  fame,"  sajd  Mr.  Forgan.  "I  alwa}s  have  considered 
the  fact  that  he  made  his  biggest  success  after  the  age  when 
many  men  are  ready  for  the  shelf  as  one  of  the  truly  ex- 
traordinary features  of  his  career.     His  was  a  splendid,  honor- 


io8  WILLIAM   DEERING 

able   record.     His  life   should   teach   American   boys  that 
persistency  must  and  will  win  success." 

Professor  U.  S.  Grant,  executive  in  charge  of  Northwestern 
University  in  the  absence  of  President  Harris  and  Dean 
Holgate,  said: 

"Mr.  Deering  had  been  known  for  years  as  one  of  the 
stanchest  friends  of  Northwestern.  He  was  president  of 
the  board  of  trustees  and  later  president  emeritus  of  the 
board.  He  gave  liberally  of  his  great  wealth  for  the  better- 
ment of  the  university  and  his  influence  was  strongly  felt  in 
the  progress  of  the  last  twenty-five  years." 

"He  was  a  most  estimable  gentleman  who  lived  a  clean,  fine 
life,"  declared  Ernest  Hamill,  president  of  the  Corn  Exchange 
National  Bank.  "He  stood  high  in  the  Methodist  Church. 
Sticktoitiveness  was  the  mainspring  of  his  character." 

President  Darius  Miller  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroad  said: 

"Although  I  knew  Mr.  Deering  but  slightly,  I  am  familiar 
enough  with  his  career  to  realize  that  he  was  a  remarkable 
man. 

"He  was  faithful  to  the  ideals  handed  down  to  him  by  his 
Puritan  ancestors.  Obstacles  and  adversities  could  not 
make  him  yield.  He  is  entitled  to  a  place  among  the  build- 
ers of  the  West." 

For  many  years  Mr.  Deering  occupied  a  position  as  one  of 
Chicago's  most  picturesque  millionaires. 

Mr.  Deering  did  not  invent  the  harvesting  machine  with 
which  his  name  and  his  millions  are  so  intimately  con- 
nected, but  he  did  finance  the  first  company  that  made  the 
harvester  practical. 

It  was  his  proudest  boast  that  a  harvester  and  binder  to 
which  he  supplied  the  backing,  and  later  the  twine  that 
facilitated  its  operation,  beat  the  railroads  into  the  North- 
west by  eighteen  years. 

In  twenty-one  years,  or  while  babes  were  growing  to  their 
majorities,  Mr.  Deering  had  fathered  the  largest  manufactur- 
ing plant  in  the  world  and  was  ready  to  retire  from  business. 
He  was  then  seventy-five  years  old. 

Spartansburg  (S.  C.)  Herald^  December  12,  IQ13 

Miami,  Fla.,  Dec.  11. — The  body  of  William  Deering, 
pioneer  harvester  rnanufacturer,  who  died  here  last  night, 


WILLIAM   DEERING  109 

will  be  taken  to  Evanston,  Illinois,  to-day.     Funeral  services 
will  be  held  there  Saturday  or  Sunday. 

Mr.  Deering's  name  stands  at  the  forefront  in  the  develop- 
ment of  harvesting  machinery.  He  staked  his  fortune  thirty 
years  ago  on  the  automatic  binder  device  for  wheat  har- 
vesters. Its  success  revolutionized  the  method  of  harvest- 
ing the  crop. 

Chicago  Inter  Ocean,  December  11,  IQIJ 

The  body  of  William  Deering,  millionaire  manufacturer 
and  founder  of  the  Deering  Harvester  Company,  who  died 
Tuesday  night  at  his  winter  home  five  miles  from  Miami, 
Florida,  will  be  brought  to  Evanston  for  burial  Saturday. 
The  body  will  arrive  on  a  special  train  over  the  Chicago  & 
Eastern  Illinois  railroad  accompanied  by  the  members  of  the 
immediate  family,  who  were  at  the  bedside. 

Classes  were  suspended  at  the  Northwestern  University 
yesterday.  Mr.  Deering  had  long  been  president  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  institution  and  one  of  its  principal  bene- 
factors. Since  the  disposal  of  his  large  interests  in  the 
International  Harvester  Company  in  1902  the  major  portion 
of  his  income  was  devoted  to  charitable  institutions. 

Mr.  Deering's  life  and  work  found  universal  praise  in 
Chicago  yesterday.  As  a  tribute  to  his  memory  the  Deering 
works  and  theoffices  of  the  International  Ha,rvester Company 
will  be  closed  all  day  Saturday.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick, 
president  of  the  International  Harvester  Company,  gave  out 
the  following  statement  regarding  Mr.  Deering: — 

"William  Deering  was  in  every  sense  a  pioneer.  He 
created  and  built  up  a  vast  business  in  harvesting  machinery 
out  of  the  most  modest  beginnings.  He  had  great  foresight, 
untiring  energy,  admirable  business  judgment.  He  proved 
himself  a  successful  manufacturer,  and  also  a  successful 
merchant — a  rare  combination  of  talents  for  one  man. 

"He  was  one  of  the  men  who  had  a  great  vision  of  the 
future  possibilities  of  our  country's  development;  and  by  his 
business  he  helped  to  promote  the  rapid  growth  of  American 
agriculture  and  the  prosperity  of  American  farmers. 

"Mr.  Deering's  name  and  influence  will  continue  to  live 
in  the  annals  of  Chicago  and  of  the  nation.  His  philan- 
thropies, extending  over  his  entire  business  life,  marked  him 


no  WILLIAM   DEERING 

as  a  man  of  broad  and  humane  sympathies.  And  above  all, 
his  natural  modesty  made  him  unwilling  that  his  benefactions 
should  be  known." 

Rochester  {N.  Y.)  Times,  December  lo,  igij 

Miami,  Fla.,  Dec.  lo. — The  body  of  William  Deering, 
Chicago  millionaire,  who  died  here  last  night  will  be  sent  this 
afternoon  to  his  former  home  in  Evanston,  Illinois,  in  a  private 
car  for  burial.  Funeral  services  will  be  held  there  either 
Saturday  or  Sunday. 

William  Deering,  inventor  and  manufacturer  of  harvest- 
ing machinery,  and  patron  of  Northwestern  University,  was 
born  in  Oxford  County,  Maine,  in  1826,  of  English  colonial 
stock,  and  was  educated  in  the  local  district  and  a  high  school 
of  Readfield,  Maine. 

Entering  business,  his  great  ability  soon  became  apparent. 
He  was  manager  of  a  woolen  mill,  then  in  several  enterprises 
of  his  own,  and  in  1871,  having  gone  to  Illinois,  became  inter- 
ested in  the  making  of  farm  machinery.  He  founded  the 
Deering  Harvester  Works,  now  part  of  the  combine,  in  1879. 
When  Mr.  Deering  retired  in  1901,  there  were  7,000  men 
employed  there  and  to-day  Deering,  the  village  around  the 
plant,  is  part  of  Chicago. 

In  recent  years,  Mr.  Deering  lived  in  Evanston,  Illinois, 
near  Northwestern  University,  of  which  he  was  the  principal 
support.  He  was  deeply  religious  and  of  an  approachable, 
kindly  nature.  He  leaves  two  sons.  Modesty  was  also  a  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic.  He  would  not  have  Northwestern 
named  Deering  University,  as  was  proposed.  He  never 
sought  public  office,  although  he  was  a  member  of  two  gov- 
ernors' councils  in  Maine.  His  benefactions  to  humanity 
were  great.  Machines  devised  by  him  are  at  work  in  the 
fields  of  Siberia  and  South  Africa  to-day. 

Nezo  York  Herald,  December  11,  igij 

Miami,  Fla.,  Wednesday. —  Mr.  William  Deering,  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  harvesting  machine  business  in  this  coun- 
try, whose  death  was  announced  in  a  late  edition  of  the 
Herald  this  morning,  arrived  here  with  his  family  several 
weeks  ago,  hoping  to  escape  the  first  cold  weather  of  a 


WILLIAM   DEERING  in 

northern  winter.  He  failed  to  improve  and  died  early  this 
morninc;,  with  his  family  gathered  about  his  bed,  in  his  winter 
home  here.     Mr.  Deering  was  eighty-seven  years  old. 

Descended  from  a  Puritan  family  that  was  established  in 
New  England  in  1634,  Mr.  Deering  early  joined  his  father 
as  a  manufacturer  of  woolens  in  Maine.  His  profits  from 
this  business  he  invested  in  western  land,  and  at  one  time, 
a  few  years  ago,  he  held  thousands  of  acres  of  valuable 
property  in  many  western  states. 

With  Mr.  Seth  Milliken  he  founded  the  firm  of 
Deering,  Milliken  &  Co.,  at  Portland,  Maine,  and  New  York 
city,  and  it  soon  became  one  of  the  largest  dry-goods  com- 
mission houses  in  the  country  and  continues  as  such. 

While  in  Chicago  in  1870  Mr.  Deering  met  Mr.  E.  H. 
Gammon,  an  old  Maine  acquaintance  who  was  selling  agri- 
cultural machinery,  then  a  new  thing.  Mr.  Gammon  told 
Mr.  Deering  that  what  was  needed  was  a  machine  that 
would  bind  the  sheaves  of  wheat  as  they  were  cut,  and 
Mr.  Deering  set  to  work  upon  this,  and  with  employed 
machinists,  including  J.  F.  Appleby,  made  the  binder 
that  still  is  in  use.  He  founded  the  Deering  Harvester  Com- 
pany at  Piano,  Illinois,  moved  it  to  Chicago  in  1880,  and  in 
1902  consolidated  it  with  the  International  Harvester 
Company. 

Mr.  Deering  made  a  large  fortune  in  all  his  ventures. 
His  home  had  been  in  Chicago  for  many  years,  but  he  had 
spent  his  winters  in  Florida. 

He  had  taken  no  active  interest  in  the  manufacturing 
business  since  his  company  became  a  part  of  the  "trust," 
turning  the  care  of  his  interest  over  to  his  two  sons  and  his 
son-in-law. 

New  York  Post,  December  10,  iQij 

William  Deering,  of  Chicago,  founder  of  the  Deering 
Harvester  Company,  died  last  night  at  his  winter  home  in 
Miami,  Florida. 

Mr.  Deering  was  born  at  South  Paris,  Maine,  April  25, 
1826,  the  son  of  James  and  Eliza  Moore  Deering. 

Visiting  Chicago  in  1870,  Mr.  Deering  met  E.  H.  Gammon, 
an  old  Maine  acquaintance,  who  was  engaged  in  selling 
agricultural  machinery.     With  him  he  formed  the  firm  of 


112  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Gammon  &  Deering.  Nine  years  later,  Mr.  Deering  became 
the  sole  owner  of  the  business. 

In  1879  2"<I  1880  Mr.  Deering,  at  the  risk  of  his  fortune, 
put  on  the  market  a  grain-binder,  invented  by  J.  F.  Appleby, 
which  automatically  bound  the  sheaves  with  twine.  This 
machine  lacked  much  in  the  first  years  of  being  a  complete 
success,  but  to-day  almost  all  of  the  grain  harvested  by 
machinery  is  gathered  by  it.  His  success  was  jeopardized 
for  a  time  by  the  failure  to  find  a  twine  adapted  to  the  use 
of  the  binder,  but  a  suitable  twine  finally  was  manufactured 
from  manila  fiber. 

In  1874  the  Deering  factory  was  moved  from  Piano,  Illinois, 
to  Chicago,  where  9000  operatives  are  now  employed. 
Under  his  direction  it  has  become  one  of  the  greatest  single 
manufacturing  plants  in  the  world,  the  output  of  the  com- 
pany being  about  1300  harvesters  a  day.  In  1902  the  Deer- 
ing interests  were  merged  with  the  International  Harvester 
Company. 

Mr.  Deering  admitted  his  two  sons  and  his  son-in-law  to 
partnership,  and  in  1901  he  retired  from  active  work,  spend- 
ing a  large  part  of  each  year  at  his  winter  home.  Many 
educational  institutions  have  been  endowed  by  Mr.  Deering, 
notably  Northwestern  University,  of  whose  board  of  trustees 
he  was  the  president  for  several  years.  Fisk  Hall,  com- 
pleted in  1898  at  a  cost  of  ^80,000,  was  given  to  Northwestern 
by  him,  and  it  is  estimated  that  his  gifts  to  that  university 
have  exceeded  $1,000,000. 

Galeshurg  (III.)  Register,  December  10,  igij 

Chicago,  Dec.  10. —  William  Deering,  founder  of  the 
Deering  Harvester  Company,  who  died  at  his  summer  home 
near  Miami,  Florida,  could  not  tell  the  difi'erence  between  pig 
iron  and  steel  when  he  entered  the  harvester  business,  his 
former  associates  said  to-day. 

"Deering  started  work  in  his  father's  woolen  mills  in 
Maine  at  $18  a  month,"  said  one  of  his  friends.  "He  was 
in  the  dry-goods  business  until  1870  when  he  bought  a  three- 
quarters  interest  in  a  harvester  business.  For  a  long  time 
he  could  not  recognize  his  own  machines  when  he  saw  them 
and  when  he  went  out  to  buy  pig  iron  he  had  to  confess  he 
didn't  know  what  kind  he  wanted." 


WILLIAM   DEERING  113 

Deering  staked  his  success  on  an  idea  that  twine  could  be 
made  small  enough  and  strong  enough  to  replace  wire  as  a 
binder,  and  in  the  face  of  ridicule  he  carried  out  the  scheme 
that  built  his  fortune. 


Anderson  (Ind.)  Bulletin,  December  10,  1913 

Chicago,  Dec.  10. —  William  Deering,  inventor  and  man- 
ufacturer of  harvesting  machinery,  died  at  his  winter  home 
in  Miami,  Florida,  last  night,  according  to  information  re- 
ceived here. 

Mr.  Deering  was  born  in  Oxford  County,  Maine,  in  1826, 
of  English  colonial  stock,  and  was  educated  in  the  local 
district  school  and  a  high  school  at  Readfield,  Maine. 

Entering  business  his  great  ability  soon  became  apparent. 
He  was  manager  of  a  woolen  mill,  then  in  several  enterprises 
of  his  own,  and  in  1871  when  in  Illinois,  became  interested 
in  the  making  of  farm  machinery.  He  founded  the  Deering 
Harvester  Works,  now  part  of  the  combine,  in  1879.  When 
Mr.  Deering  retired  in  1901  there  were  7,000  men  emplo}'ed 
there.  Deering,  the  village  around  the  plant,  is  now  part  of 
Chicago. 

In  recent  years  Mr.  Deering  lived  in  Evanston,  near 
Northwestern  University,  of  which  he  was  the  principal 
support.  He  was  deeply  religious  and  of  an  approachable, 
kindly  nature.  He  leaves  two  sons,  having  been  married 
twice. 

Modesty  was  one  of  his  distinguishing  characteristics.  He 
would  not  have  Northwestern  named  Deering  University, 
as  was  proposed.  He  never  sought  public  office,  although  he 
was  a  member  of  two  governor's  councils  in  Maine. 

Evanston  {III.)  Index,  December  20,  igij 

A  notable  funeral  was  that  of  William  Deering,  Sunday 
afternoon.  The  First  Methodist  Church  could  not  hold  all 
the  friends  who  desired  to  participate  in  the  services,  several 
hundred  being  unable  to  gain  admission  and  every  seat  in 
the  large  auditorium  being  taken.  Employees  of  the 
harvester  company  came  from  the  vicinity  of  the  great 
works  to  the  south  in  a  special  train  and,  when  seated  in  the 
church,  almost  filled  the  south  side  seats  on  the  lower  floor. 


114  WILLIAM    DEERING 

They  brought  with  them  as  a  floral  offering  a  reproduction 
in  carnations  and  violets  of  the  original  harvester  manufac- 
tured by  Mr.  Deering.  It  attracted  much  attention  where 
it  was  placed  in  the  vestibule.  Other  floral  tributes  were 
so  many  that  a  number  of  automobiles  were  required  to  take 
them  to  Graceland,  where  the  remains  were  privately  interred 
after  the  ceremony. 

Bishop  McDowell  oflSciated,  assisted  by  President  Charles 
M.  Stuart  of  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  and  Dr.  Timothy 
P.  Frost,  pastor  of  the  church.  Appropriate  music  was 
furnished  by  Professor  Lutkin's  A  Cappella  Choir  under 
his  direction. 

Bishop  McDowell  was  visibly  affected  and  his  address 
was  marked  by  great  feeling  and  earnestness.  It  was  an 
eloquent  tribute  to  the  passing  of  a  dear  friend  whose  career 
gave  opportunity  for  words  of  highest  praise. 

Chicago  Inter  Ocean,  December  ii,  iQij 

The  life  of  William  Deering,  which  ended  in  its  eighty- 
eighth  year  on  Tuesday,  illustrated  the  versatility  of  the 
American  business  man  of  what  may  now  be  called  the  "old 
school,"  since  we  seem  destined  to  have  fewer  examples  of 
it  under  the  modern  and,  perhaps,  necessary  pressure  for 
specialization. 

For  so  many  years  that  most  people  have  forgotten  he  was 
ever  anything  else,  William  Deering  was  a  leading  figure  in 
the  manufacture  of  harvesting  machinery.  From  his  works 
went  out  the  "twine  binder"  which  has  become  the  standard 
reaping  machine  wherever  wheat  is  grown. 

Yet  William  Deering  intended  in  youth  to  be  a  physician, 
became  a  manufacturer  of  textiles  and  a  dry-goods  merchant, 
had  reached  middle  age,  and  had  retired  from  business  with  a 
competent  fortune  on  account  of  supposedly  failing  health 
before  he  even  began  to  take  interest  in  harvesting  ma- 
chinery. 

To  a  Methodist  minister  who  had  lost  his  voice  and  in 
consequence  had  retired  from  the  pulpit  down  in  Maine  is 
traced  Mr.  Deering's  entrance  into  the  harvester  business. 
He  had  come  west  on  his  retirement  from  dry  goods  to  make 
investments  in  lands,  met  this  minister,  an  old  friend,  and 
found  him  enthusiastic  over  the  prospects  of  the  harvester 


WILLIAM   DEERING  115 

which  the  Marsh  brothers  of  Piano  were  making  and  "dem- 
onstrating." 

As  a  result  Mr.  Deering  put  his  money  into  a  harvester 
factory  instead  of  lands  and  became  ultimately  one  of  the 
central  figures  in  what  has  well  been  called  "The  Romance  of 
the  Reaper."  The  elder  McCormick  was  then  the  great 
figure  in  that  trade,  had  very  strong  convictions  about  his 
rights  as  inventor,  and  was  a  resolute  fighter  for  them. 

Well-meaning  friends  warned  Mr.  Deering  that  going  into 
reapers  meant  "a  fight  with  McCormick"  and  asked  why 
at  his  age,  with  all  he  had  to  lose,  without  inventions  that 
were  really  revolutionary,  he  was  going  to  attempt  this 
hazard  of  fortune.  With  characteristic  modesty  he  an- 
swered:  "Well,  perhaps  we  can  make  a  better  machine." 

Though  not  an  inventor  nor  even  a  machinist  himself, 
before  his  harvester  career  ended  William  Deering  had  paid 
out  over  ^2,000,000  to  inventors,  much  of  it  just  to  keep  them 
at  work  experimenting  and  working  out  their  ideas.  It  was 
thus  that  J.  F.  Appleby  produced  the  "knotter"  which  is  the 
essential  device  of  the  twine  binder  and  enabled  it  practically 
to  displace  all  other  types  of  grain  harvester. 

With  all  his  business  success  and  wealth  William  Deering 
never  lost  his  interest  in  the  finer  things  of  life.  He  was  al- 
ways a  good  citizen  who  never  sought  to  become  conspicu- 
ous. His  benevolences  were  many,  and  especially  to  educa- 
tion. Northwestern  University  owes  him  much  as  a  bene- 
factor and  as  a  most  capable  manager  of  its  property  and 
business  interests. 


Chicago  Record-Herald,  December  10,  iQij 

The  death  of  Willia,m  Deering  cannot  but  bring  back  to 
mind  the  early  da}s  of  one  of  America's  most  important  and 
vital  industries.  The  harvester  had  its  genesis  on  a  northern 
Illinois  farm  a^nd  reached  its  highest  development  in  the 
outskirts  of  Chicago.  Truly  a  local  product  in  all  its 
aspects,  the  harvester,  containing  within  itself  the  power  of  a 
real  and  compelling  organism,  spread  out  and  conquered  the 
world. 

In  this  long  and  victorious  process  William  Deering  took 
his  full  share.     He  was  active,  aggressive.     Later  on  he  be- 


ii6  WILLIAM   DEERING 

stowed  the  rewards  of  success  with  due  regard  to  his  New 
England  ancestry  and  his  Puritan  training.  Wide  and  well- 
judged  gifts  to  charity  and  education  adorned  his  latter 
years.  His  death  removes  at  once  a  good  citizen  and  a 
notable  factor  in  the  country's  industrial  advance. 


Northwestern  Christian  Advocate,  December  77,  /p/j 

Mr.  William  Deering  of  Evanston,  Illinois,  founder  of  the 
Deering  Harvester  Company,  supporter  of  every  good  cause 
and  generous  benefactor  of  Northwestern  University  and 
Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  died  at  his  winter  home  in  Cocoa- 
nut  Grove,  Florida,  on  Tuesday  night,  December  ninth,  in  his 
eighty-eighth  year. 

Mr.  Deering  came  to  Evanston  in  1874.  From  the 
first  he  identified  himself  actively  with  the  Church  and  the 
Church's  educational  and  philanthropic  interests.  He 
became  trustee  of  Northwestern  University,  of  Garrett 
Biblical  Institute,  of  Wesley  Hospital,  and  of  the  Chicago 
Home  Missionary  and  City  Church  Extension  Society,  to 
all  of  which  enterprises  he  gave  liberally,  besides  giving  a 
service  of  counsel  and  direction  which  no  money  could  buy. 

He  was  constantly  drawn  upon  for  benevolent  enterprises 
of  every  kind  and  to  every  appeal  he  gave  personal  considera- 
tion. .  As  few  men  of  his  position  do  he  followed  the  objects 
of  his  giving  with  an  intelligent  and  sjmpathetic  concern. 
His  affection  for  the  Church  was  warm  and  constant.  Even 
in  the  anxious  days  when  business  matters  were  pressing 
heavily  upon  him  he  found  surcease  from  care  in  prompt  and 
regular  attendance  at  class  and  prayer  meetings  and  in  the 
teaching  of  a  large  bible  class. 

Of  religion  he  had  a  definite  and  relishable  experience. 
To  this  experience  he  witnessed  frankly  and  modestly.  It 
gave  glow  and  savor  to  his  conversation;  it  directed  his 
reading  and  recreation;  it  determined  his  manner  of  living. 
Mr.  Deering  was  reputed  to  be  rich,  but  he  lived  simply  and 
without  ostentation,  and  no  employee  of  his  ever  worked 
harder  or  through  longer  hours.  He  dealt  justly  with  every 
man.  In  all  business  relations  he  was  sensitively  scrupulous. 
He  was  not  easily  imposed  upon,  and  for  any  form  of 
equivocation  he  had  swift  and  terrible  wrath.     He  made 


WILLIAM   DEERING  117 

friends  and  kept  them;  they  loved  him  unselfishly  and  with 
the  best  love  they  had,  for  only  so  could  they  meet  and 
mate  his  own  utterly  frank  and  sincere  nature. 

Mr.  Deering  was  not  greatly  impressed  by  the  agitation 
against  business  "combinations."  He  believed  the  agitation 
to  be  in  great  part  a  method  of  the  politician  to  acquire 
political  capital.  In  "combination"  he  saw  only  a  chance 
for  cheaper  production  and  distribution.  Of  the  inherent 
right  of  business  men  to  combine  for  protection  and  economy 
in  administration  he  had  not  the  slightest  doubt. 

And  if  men  of  Mr.  Deering's  character  and  caliber  were  in 
the  majority  in  every  trust  directorate  the  world  might  see 
how  helpful  such  combinations  could  be.  For  the  inequity, 
not  to  say  iniquity,  of  certain  kinds  of  combinations  Mr. 
Deering  had  only  a  frank  intolerance;  but  such  inequity  in 
his  mind  was  not  in  "combinations"  as  such,  but  in  the 
dishonest  administration  of  them.  It  is  easy  to  differ  from 
Mr.  Deering's  view  of  the  business  situation;  but  there  can 
be  no  question  that  Mr.  Deering  held  his  view  in  perfect 
integrity  of  heart. 

Mr.  Deering  was  well  informed  in  science  and  theology, 
for  the  literature  of  which  he  had  special  fondness.  He 
thought  less  than  well  of  the  modern  trend  in  biblical 
criticism.  He  was  frank  enough,  however,  to  admit  that 
the  issue  was  one  for  specialists  and  he  had  undisturbed 
faith  that  the  Bible  could  amply  take  care  of  itself. 

Of  Mr.  Deering's  business  genius  it  is  not  necessary  to  write 
here.  What  the  Church  feels  most  is  the  loss  of  a  sincerely 
devout  disciple  of  stainless  character  and  exalted  gifts,  who 
loved  his  Master  in  utter  sincerity  and  truth  and  who  sought 
earnestly  to  promote  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  twofold  task 
of  bringing  men  and  women  into  that  noblest  of  fellowships 
of  adoring  love  and  loyalty  for  the  King  and  of  helpful 
sympathy  and  devotion  for  the  common  good. 

Funeral  services  were  held  a,t  First  Church,  Evanston,  on 
Sunday  afternoon  last.  Hundreds  of  the  employees  of  the 
harvester  company  were  in  attendance,  as  were  also  rep- 
resentatives of  the  trustees  and  faculties  of  Northwestern 
University  and  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  The  service  was 
in  charge  of  the  pastor,  Dr.  Timothy  P.  Frost,  assisted  by 
President  Stuart  of  Garrett  Biblical  Institute.  Bishop 
McDowell  made  the  address. 


ii8  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Central  Christian  Advocate,  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  December 

This  distinguished  Methodist  layman  and  philanthropist 
died  at  his  winter  home  in  Miami,  Florida,  December  ninth. 
The  date  and  place  of  his  birth  were  South  Paris,  Maine, 
April  25,  1826.  He  came  of  a  Puritan  family,  which  was 
established  in  America  in  1634. 

He  commenced  life  with  no  other  advantages  than  those 
enjoyed  by  thousands  of  other  boys  in  New  England  and 
elsewhere  in  this  country.  But  he  made  for  himself  a  name 
which  is  as  widely  known  and  universally  and  deservedly 
honored  as  is  the  name  of  any  other  Methodist  layman. 
Everywhere  for  many  years  his  name  has  been  the  synonym 
for  rare  business  skill  and  enterprise,  for  an  integrity  which 
no  breath  of  envy  or  suspicion  has  ever  assailed,  and  for  a 
devout  and  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  principles  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

His  life  aptly  demonstrated  that  while  there  may  be  no 
royal  road  to  fortune  or  to  an  honorable  fame,  both  of  these 
rewards  await  the  one  who  promptly  recognizes  and  wisely 
interprets  the  opportunities  of  the  business  life,  and  with 
unflinching  integrity  and  courage  prosecutes  those  plans, 
which,  having  previously  received  the  approval  both  of  the 
conscience  and  business  judgment,  are  not  modified  to  suit 
temporary  conditions  or  exigencies. 

Since  early  childhood  Mr.  Deering  was  an  earnest  and 
exemplary  Christian.  Modest  and  retiring  in  his  disposition, 
it  is  said  that  he,  without  ostentation  or  display,  imitated 
the  Master,  of  whom  it  is  recorded  that  "He  went  about 
doing  good." 

Although  Mr.  Deering  was  a  devout  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  his  sympathies  and  benevo- 
lences were  cosmopolitan.  Scattered  everywhere  and  in 
many  lands  are  churches  which  he  has  helped  to  build, 
hospitals  which  his  generosity  has  aided,  schools  or  univer- 
sities which  he  has  helped  to  establish  and  endow.  Upon 
Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  Illinois,  his  largest  and 
chief  benefactions  have  been  bestowed,  while  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute  and  Wesley  Hospital,  Chicago,  and  other  local 
institutions  have  been  the  recipients  of  large  gifts  from  his 
generous  purse. 

The  funeral  took  place  in  Evanston,  Illinois. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  119 

The  Continent,  December  iS,  iqij 

William  Deering,  one  of  the  nation's  noted  manufacturers 
and  a  stalwart  la\man  of  the  Methodist  Church,  died  on  the 
ninth  instant  at  his  winter  home  near  Miami,  Florida,  aged 
eight}'-seven  years. 

A  dozen  years  ago  he  retired  from  active  work  after 
a  life  full  of  varied  and  useful  activities.  Northwestern 
University,  Garrett  Bihlical  Institute,  and  Wesley  Hospital, 
all  in  or  near  Chicago,  owe  much  to  his  generosity,  for  he 
gave  to  them  not  only  of  his  wealth  but  also  of  his  time  and 
exceptional  business  ability.  Up  to  three  years  ago  his 
gifts  to  the  university  aggregated  nearly  a  million  dollars. 
He  built  a  school  for  orphans  and  was  a  large  yearly  contribu- 
tor to  home  missionary  and  church  extension  work.  The 
total  of  his  benevolences  is  not  known. 

Mr.  Deering  is  described  as  "a  good  citizen  who  never 
sought  to  become  conspicuous,"  a  high  grade  American  of  the 
old  school. 


The  Epzvorth  Herald,  December  20,  1Q13 

A  ripe  old  age,  a  quiet,  unostentatious  life,  a  generous 
heart  toward  many  holy  causes — these  were  the  things  by 
which  William  Deering  of  Evanston  was  known  to  the  new 
generation. 

But  the  old  generation  knew  him  as  the  business  man  with 
a  courage  that  had  in  it  more  than  a  touch  of  genius,  with  the 
vision  to  perceive  and  the  will  to  dare  when  lesser  men  were 
all  for  prudence.  That  and  his  relation  to  some  notable  in- 
ventions in  reaping  machinery  made  William  Deering's  for- 
tune, and  set  him  alongside  Cyrus  McCormick  as  one  of  the 
American  farmer's  greatest  benefactors. 

And  Methodism  will  remember  this  captain  of  industry  as 
a  simple-hearted  Christian,  worshiping  God  without  hypoc- 
risy and  serving  his  fellows  without  arrogance.  We  shall 
long  be  beneficiaries  of  his  gifts  to  education  at  Northwest- 
ern University,  to  evangelism  in  the  Chicago  City  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  to  the  ministry  of  pity  in  the  Lake  BlufF 
Orphanage  and  elsewhere. 

It  has  been  a  quiet  satisfaction  to  Methodism  that  such 
men  as  William  Deering,  coming  to  great  wealth,  have  main- 


I20  WILLIAM   DEERING 

tained  their  Christian  faith  and  their  loyalty  to  the  Church 
which  nurtured  them  and  have  held  their  possessions  as 
sincere  stewards  of  the  gifts  of  God. 

Zion's  Herald,  December  17,  iqij 

One  of  the  most  princely  givers  in  American  Methodism 
went  to  his  heavenly  reward  on  Tuesdaj^  December  ninth, 
when  Mr.  William  Deering,  of  Chicago,  noted  as  the  million- 
aire manufacturer  of  harvesting  machinery,  died  at  his 
country  home  in  Miami,  Florida.  Mr.  Deering  had  been  ill 
for  some  time,  following  upon  a  paralytic  stroke  which  he 
suffered  several  months  ago.     He  was  eighty-seven  years  of 

In  his  death  there  is  removed  from  the  ranks  of  Methodism 
one  of  her  most  loyal  sons,  a  man  who  was  interested  in  every 
good  work,  giving  liberally  to  church,  to  education,  and  to 
charity.  Mr.  Deering  came  of  old  Puritan  stock.  He  was 
born  in  South  Paris,  Maine,  and  held  to  his  dying  day  a  warm 
place  in  his  heart  for  the  community  of  his  early  youth. 

Some  years  ago  he  made  possible,  through  one  of  his  gen- 
erous gifts,  the  erection  of  a  beautiful  structure  in  that  town, 
which  is  a  gem  of  church  architecture.  His  largest  gifts  were 
bestowed  upon  Northwestern  University  and  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute,  of  w^hose  boards  of  trustees  he  had  been  president 
for  many  years.  He  also  remembered  most  generously 
Wesley  Hospital  in  Chicago. 

We  are  pleased  to  be  able  to  publish  at  this  time  a  tender 
tribute  from  the  pen  of  Frederick  A.  Noble,  of  Evanston,  who 
had  known  Mr.  Deering  from  his  early  youth.  As  the  two 
families  lived  in  neighboring  towns  in  Maine,  just  a  few 
miles  from  each  other,  and  were  brought  frequently  into  con- 
tact one  with  the  other,  both  being  loyal  Methodists,  the 
fathers  learned  to  esteem  and  to  love  each  other  in  the  faith, 
and  now  out  of  the  fullness  and  ripeness  of  their  affection,  one 
of  the  sons  pens  these  lines  to  the  memory  of  the  other: 

An  oak,  once  stately,  sinewy  and  strong, 

Lies  prone;  the  strain  of  years  has  taken  toll. 
A  man  with  oaken  fiber  in  his  soul — 
Clear  brained  and  stout  of  will,  averse  to  wrong, 
With  small  desire  for  merriment  and  song, 


WILLIAM   DEERING  121 

But  eminent  in  gifts  for  wide  control — 
Has  heard  the  call  to  act  in  higher  role, 
And  vacant  now  the  place  he  filled  so  long. 
He  wrought  that  toil  might  yield  the  toiler  more; 
That  school  and  church  might  cast  their  beams  afar; 
That  life  in  all  might  pulse  with  nobler  aim. 
His  character  and  deeds  increased  the  store 
Of  human  gains,  and  made  his  name  a  star 
To  shine  with  steady  light  of  lasting  fame. 

The  Christian  Advocate,  December  iS,  191 J 

Willia^n  Deering,  whose  name  is  indelibly  connected  with 
the  industrial  history  of  the  age  in  America,  died  at  his  winter 
home,  Miami,  Florida,  December  ninth,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years.  He  w  as  of  sturdy  Maine  lineage,  born  at  South 
Paris,  Maine,  in  1826. 

He  was  manager  of  a  woolen  mill  at  eighteen,  founder  of  the 
great  textile  commission  house  of  Deering,  Milliken  &  Co., 
first  of  Portland,  Maine,  and  now  of  this  city,  and  from 
1870  a  manufacturer  of  agricultural  implements  at  Piano  and 
Chicago,  Illinois.  The  Deering  Harvester  Works  employed 
thousands  of  men  and  their  product  reaps  the  crops  of  every 
land  on  the  globe.  About  ten  }ears  ago  the  business  was 
merged  in  the  International  Harvester  Company. 

His  success  in  business  was  paralleled  by  his  humanity 
and  justice  in  dealing  with  his  workmen,  who  were  most 
loyal,  harmonious  and  contented  because  of  the  friendly 
relations  which  Mr.  Deering  maintained  with  them. 

Mr.  Deering's  affiliations  had  been  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  from  early  life,  and  as  his  means  increased 
he  liberally  supported  its  local  and  world-wide  enterprises. 
At  Evanston,  Illinois,  where  he  had  long  resided,  he  had  been 
the  leader  of  the  group  of  friends  who  have  done  so  much 
for  Northwestern  University  and  Garrett  Biblical  Institute. 
He  gave  long  service  on  their  boards  of  trustees,  holding  the 
most  responsible  offices  and  contributing  more  largely  than 
any  other  man  to  their  financial  strength. 

His  benefactions,  general  and  special,  in  buildings,  libra- 
ries, endowments,  have  never  been  publicly  listed  and  prob- 
ably never  will  be,  but  the  known  gifts  amount  to  several 
millions  of  dollars.  Mr.  Deering  was  a  member  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conferences  of  1892  and  1900. 


122  WILLIAM   DEERING 

The  Implement  Age,  Springfieldy  Ohio,  December  20,  igi^ 

William  Deering,  of  Chicago,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
farm  machine  industry,  and  for  many  years  one  of  the 
largest  manufacturers  of  farm  machines  the  world  has  ever 
known,  died  at  his  winter  home,  five  miles  south  of  the  city 
of  Miami,  Florida,  on  the  evening  of  December  ninth. 

Mr.  Deering's  life  was  characteristic  of  so  many  of  the 
early  New  Englanders  who  broke  away  from  their  home 
towns  and  amassed  great  fortunes  during  the  tremendous 
growth  of  the  middle  West.  At  that  time  it  was  customary 
for  most  well-educated  young  men  to  enter  one  of  the  learned 
professions.  This  was  Mr.  Deering's  early  ambition,  but 
his  father,  who  was  then  president  of  the  South  Paris 
Manufacturing  Company,  engaged  in  making  woolen  cloths, 
needed  his  help  at  that  time,  and  young  William  gave  up 
medicine  and  entered  commercial  life. 

Mr.  Deering  became  a  manufacturer  and  merchant  in 
his  native  town,  dividing  his  interest  between  his  business 
and  the  development  of  western  farm  lands,  of  which  he 
became  a  large  owner. 

At  the  age  of  forty-four,  about  the  time  that  most  men 
are  contemplating  leaving  actual  service,  William  Deering 
began  the  work  of  his  life,  for  which  he  will  probably  be  re- 
membered throughout  the  coming  century,  and  which  has 
made  his  name  one  of  the  best  known  names  throughout 
the  entire  world. 

There  is  practically  no  country  in  which  agricultural  work 
is  carried  on  that  is  not  familiar  with  the  word  "Deering." 
In  1870,  William  Deering,  the  woolen  merchant,  came 
from  Maine  to  Chicago  with  $40,000  to  invest  in  Chicago 
real  estate.  Instead  of  this  he  met  an  old  friend,  a  retired 
Methodist  preacher,  E.  H.  Gammon,  who  with  J.  D.  Easter, 
as  partner,  had  procured  a  license  to  make  what  is  now  his- 
torically known  as  Marsh  harvesters.  The  Gammon  and 
Easter  combination  had  established  a  plant  at  Piano,  Illinois, 
and  the  year  that  Mr.  Deering  came  west  had  sold  1000 
machines,  but  owing  to  the  lack  of  capital,  they  were 
unable  to  expand.     Mr.  Deering  advanced  this  capital. 

In  1872  he  was  made  a  partner  in  the  business,  and  in 
1873  he  took  charge.  For  five  years  he  manufactured  the 
Marsh  harvester,  competing  with  the  McCormick  Company, 


WILLIAM   DEERING  123 

which,  up  to  1879,  ^^'3s  selling  the  most  up-to-date  machine 
of  that  period,  with  the  Sidney  B.  Withington  wire  binder. 

In  1S78  Mr.  Deering  saw  a  twine  binder  that  John  F. 
Appleby,  a  farm  mechanic,  had  invented.  This  binder  used 
string  instead  of  wire,  and  it  so  impressed  Deering  that  he 
arranged  to  majce  it.  He  risked  his  entire  fortune  of  ap- 
proximately one  million  dollars  in  turning  out  3000  of  these 
machines  for  the  harvest  of  iSSo.  Luckily,  the  binders  were 
a  success,  and  the  next  year  the  demand  was  so  great  for 
them  that  he  bought  out  Gammon's  interest,  and  moved  the 
plant  from  Piano  to  Chicago. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  present  Deering  plant. 
There  were  only  three  binder-twine  makers  in  the  United 
States  upon  whom  he  could  call  for  twine.  The  multiple- 
ply  string  was  so  expensive  that,  although  the  twine 
binder  had  saved  the  farmers  great  sums  in  the  cost  of 
cutting  their  wheat,  they  protested  at  buying  the  twine. 
Mr.  Deering  was  convinced  that  a  single-strand  twine 
could  be  made  which  would  not  only  be  cheap,  but  at  the 
same  time  do  the  work  better  than  the  twisted  strands. 

He  approached  E.  H.  Fitler,  a  famous  cordage  man,  at 
one  time  ma\'or  of  Philadelphia,  and  gave  him  such  an  order 
that  Mr.  Fitler  boasted  to  his  dying  day  that  he  "made 
a  million-dollar  deaj  with  Deering  in  two  minutes."  Some 
years  after  this  Mr.  Deering  established  his  own  twine 
mills,  and  in  his  eagerness  to  give  the  American  farmer  as 
cheap  a  twine  as  could  be  made,  he  spent  i^i 5,000  in  trying 
to  perfect  a  grass  twine;  $35,000  for  a  paper  twine;  $43,000 
on  a  straw  twine,  and  $165,000  on  a  flax  twine. 

From  adoption  of  the  twine  binder  the  Deering  plant 
expanded  and  grew  until  atthe  formation  of  the  International 
Harvester  Company  it  was  turning  out  two  complete 
machmes  every  minute  of  the  working  day  and  thirty  miles 
of  twine  per  minute.  During  the  past  ten  years  it  has 
kept  pace  with  the  other  plants  of  the  International 
Harvester  Company.  Its  product  is  shipped  to  every  corner 
of  the  habitable  world;  its  physical  properties  are  the  most 
modern  possible,  and  its  efficiency  standard  is  in  the  foremost 
rank  of  industry. 

There  are  now  employed  an  average  of  about  9000 
employees  at  its  works.  It  covers  a  land  area  of  eighty  acres, 
and  has  an  annual  capacity  for  turning  out  300,000  machines, 


124  WILLIAM   DEERING 

consisting  of  binders,  reapers,  mowers,  rakes,  drills,  and  corn 
machines.  Its  twine  mills  have  capacity  to  turn  out  45,000 
tons  of  twine  each  year. 

In  1901  Mr.  Deering  retired  from  active  work  and 
devoted  his  time  to  other  things.  His  gifts  to  education  and 
charity,  especially  to  the  Northwestern  University,  the 
Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  of  whose  boards  of  trustees  for 
many  years  he  was  president,  and  the  Wesley  Hospital  of 
Chicago,  were  large.  He  has  constantly  contributed  to 
help  in  the  erection  of  churches  and  met  appeals  that  came 
from  all  sections  of  the  country. 

One  of  the  best  appreciations  of  Mr.  Deering's  work  is 
found  in  a  book  recently  written  by  Edwin  L.  Barker,  entitled 
"Creeds  of  Great  Business  Men."  Mr.  Deering  is  included 
in  this  work,  and  here  are  Mr.  Barker's  apprecative  words 
of  him: 

"William  Deering  did  his  greatest  work  after  he  thought  he 
had  retired  from  business.  It  is  the  way  of  life  —  to  aim 
at  one  thing  and  hit  something  else.  Columbus  did  it  when 
he  discovered  America;  Daguerre  went  forth  to  sketch  the 
landscape,  and  came  home  lugging  photography;  Bell  was 
working  to  make  the  deaf  hear  when  he  produced  the  tele- 
phone. 

"Mr.  Deering  was  a  New  England  woolen  manufacturer. 
He  was  born  in  Maine,  and  there  he  lived  and  worked  'in 
wool,'  as  we  say  in  trade,  for  near  on  to  fifty  years.  First, 
he  made  woolen  goods,  and  then,  to  better  sell  them,  he 
opened  stores  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  Later,  to 
form  a  complete  line  and  to  better  serve  the  public  and 
himself,  he  added  cotton  fabrics. 

"Then  it  was  that  he  decided  to  retire.  He  figured  that 
he  had  made  money  enough.  He  had  yet  to  learn  that  men 
who  can  aflTord  to  retire  seldom  do.  The  ceaseless  urge  that 
puts  us  at  the  top  generally  holds  us  there.  The  clang  of 
business  keeps  most  men  in  harness  to  the  end.  They  are 
like  conductors,  who  take  vacations  and  then  spend  the 
time  in  riding  up  and  down  the  road  with  other  conductors. 

"After  he  thought  he  had  retired,  Mr.  Deering  went  west 
to  see  the  sights.  There  he  remained  to  build  sights  for 
others  to  see.  He  took  up  the  work  started  by  McCormick, 
and  added  the  finishing  touch,  as  it  were. 

"It  all  happened  in  a  very  simple  way.     At  Chicago,  Mr. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  125 

Deering  met  an  old  friend,  E.  H.  Gammon,  who  was  buildinj; 
Marsh  harvesters.  C.  W.  Marsh,  of  Dekalb,  Illinois,  invented 
his  harvester  to  relieve  the  stoop  and  strain  of  followinj^  the 
reaper  and  binding  the  sheaves.  Again  the  aim  was  good, 
but  the  Marsh  harvester  did  more  than  the  inventor  had 
planned  for  it.     It  suggested  the  self-binder. 

"Gammon  needed  money,  so  Deering  accommodated  him. 
When  the  note  fell  due,  Deering  was  persuaded  to  invest  the 
amount  in  stock.  Later  he  was  asked  to  help  out  in  the 
management  of  the  business,  and  before  he  knew  it  he  was 
doing  a  work  which  was  to  carry  him  to  leadership  in  the 
harvesting  machine  industry. 

"Mr.  Deering  looked  ahead.  Looking  ahead  was  one  of 
the  things  he  did  best.  In  the  distance  he  saw  the  approach 
of  the  self-binder.  At  first  wire  was  tried,  but  it  failed. 
Then  came  John  F.  Appleby  with  a  binding  attachment 
which  would  tie  twine.  Mr.  Deering  decided  to  use  twine 
in  the  three  thousand  binders  which  he  had  made  for  the 
harvest  of  1880. 

"But  where  was  he  to  get  the  twine?  He  went  from  rope- 
maker  to  twinemaker,  and  from  twinemaker  to  ropemaker. 
They  could  not  see  that  one  day  the  making  of  binder  twine 
would  be  a  great  industry;  that  more  than  150,000  tons 
would  be  used  to  tie  the  annual  grain  crops  of  the  world. 

"Let  it  here  be  set  down  that  the  knowledge  we  gain  in  one 
line  often  helps  us  to  succeed  in  an  entirely  different  line. 
Mr.  Deering  remembered  his  wool-spinning  experience. 
So,  after  much  work,  and  with  an  enduring  faith  in  human 
ingenuity,  he  finally  succeeded  in  producing  the  first  hard- 
fiber  binder  twine  ever  used.  Since  that  day  harvesting 
has  been  done  more  easily  and  quickly,  and  so  wheat  crops 
have  grown  better  and  larger. 

"Again  Mr.  Deering  looked  ahead.  He  saw  that  if  the 
machines  were  to  do  their  best  work  the  manufacturer 
of  binders  must  be  the  manufacturer  of  the  twine  used  in 
the  binders.  To-day  we  know  that  this  business  man  did 
not  look  ahead  in  vain. 

"He  and  the  experts  he  employed  studied  improvements. 
No  man  ever  knew  the  law  of  competition  better  than  Wil- 
liam Deering.  And  what  is  the  law  of  competition.''  It  is 
this:  Make  your  goods  a  little  better  to-day,  or  your  com- 
petitor will  overtake  you  to-morrow." 


126  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Farm  Machinery,  December  j6,  IQ13 

Mr.  Deering  was  not  an  inventor  himself,  nor  was  he  even 
a  mechanic,  but  he  was  probably  the  greatest  patron  of 
inventors  the  world  has  ever  known.  It  has  been  reckoned 
that  he  spent  over  two  million  dollars  during  his  period  of 
active  business  life  in  improving  and  designing  farm  ma- 
chines. The  tradition  is  that  he  kept  one  man  on  a  salary 
for  twenty  years  until  he  perfected  what  is  now  the  Deering 
corn    picker. 

Mr.  Deering's  watchword  in  his  business  administration 
was  "system  and  centralization;"  in  the  manufacturing 
end  his  slogan  was  "perfection  in  every  detail."  So 
successful  was  he  that  his  name  became  a  byword,  not  only 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  but  in  every  part  of 
the  world,  for  harvesting  machines  which  could  withstand 
the  strain  and  stress  of  years  of  operation.  Even  now,  a 
decade  after  his  retirement  from  business,  accounts  are 
still  being  received  of  how  Deering  binders  and  mowers  are 
working  after  thirty  years  of  service. 

Farm  Implement  News,  Chicago,  Illinois,  December  ii,  IQ13 

At  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-seven  William  Deering,  founder 
of  the  great  Deering  harvester  industry,  now  a  part  of  the 
International  Harvester  Company,  passed  away  December 
ninth. 

In  1870  Mr.  Deering  became  interested  with  E.  H.  Gam- 
mon in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  Marsh  harvesters. 

The  manufacture  of  harvesters  continued  under  the  com- 
bination with  some  changes  until  the  fall  of  1875,  when 
Gammon  &  Deering  purchased  all  the  other  interests  in  these 
shops  and  became  the  sole  owners  of  the  institution.  The 
business  had  greatly  increased;  the  Marsh  harvester  had 
won  a  front  place  among  grain-cutting  machines;  other 
manufacturers,  one  by  one,  had  fallen  into  line,  and  harves- 
ters, as  a  class,  had  taken  precedence  over  reapers  in  the  great 
grain-growing  sections  of  the  country. 

During  this  period  also  the  first  successful  steps  were  taken 
toward  the  introduction  of  automatic  binders.  Inventors 
many  years  before  had  succeeded  in  making  the  twist  and  in 
tying  the   knot,   but   practical   delivery   to   and   from   the 


WILLIAM    DEERING  127 

binder  had  not  been  obtained  until  the  Marsh  harvester 
showed  the  way.  The  Gordon  brothers,  Locke,  Withington, 
Gorham,  Appleby,  Holmes,  and  others  revived  old  devices 
and  invented  new,  applying  them  to  this  harvester  with  vary- 
ing but  progressive  success,  until  even  at  that  time  (1875) 
several  wire  binders  had  been  sufficiently  perfected  to  be  put 
upon  the  market  as  "attachments"  to  harvesters;  and  two 
or  three  twine  binders  were  making  annual  strides  toward 
practical  operation. 

Although  the  trade  in  harvesters  continued  good,  Mr. 
Deering,  with  prescient  eye,  watched  all  these  movements. 
Gammon  &  Deering  were  among  the  first  to  test  the  market 
with  binders,  having  already  put  out  Gordon  wire  binders; 
and  during  the  years  immediately  following  1875  they  made 
and  sold  large  numbers.  At  the  close  of  1877  occurred  the 
failure  of  J.  D.  Easter  &  Co.,  whose  creditors,  in  the  settle- 
ment of  their  affairs,  turned  the  territory  they  had  supplied 
with  Marsh  harvesters  over  to  Gammon  &  Deering.  The 
latter  firm  then  became  the  principal  owner  of  the  Marsh 
harvester  interests  and  the  leader  in  the  trade. 

Mr.  Deering  had  been  closely  watching  Appleby's  efforts 
and  progress  with  his  twine  binder,  and  believing  that  twine 
would  supersede  wire  as  material  for  binding  —  providing  the 
knotting  devices  could  be  made  practically  operative  —  he 
interested  himself  in  Appleby.  Gammon  &  Deering  in  1879 
built  and  put  out  a  considerable  number  of  these  twine 
binders,  which  operated  successfully.  In  the  fall  of  that  year 
the  firm  dissolved  partnership,  Mr.  Gammon  retiring. 

The  year  1880  was  a  memorable  one  in  the  annals  of  the 
harvesting  machine  business.  The  old  hand  binding  harves- 
ter had  been  pushed  from  its  place  in  the  market  by  the  child 
of  its  adoption,  the  automatic  binder,  several  stales  of 
which,  binding  with  wire,  were  being  built  and  successfully 
put  upon  the  market  to  supply  a  large  and  growing  demand. 

Mr.  Deering  was  now  the  sole  representative  of  the  vast 
interests  of  the  old  concern,  and  he  was  making  two  bold 
movements:  he  was  building  new  shops  in  Chicago  and  re- 
moving his  works  thereto  from  Piano,  and  he  was  preparing 
to  make  a  charge  directly  upon  the  center  of  the  opposing 
wire  binder  hosts.  The  position  was  dangerous  and  re(|uired 
a  leaderof  judgment,  nerve,  great  executive  ability,  and  force 
of  character.     These  attributes  Mr.  Deering  possessed. 


128  WILLIAM   DEERING 

The  year  1880  was  indeed  a  memorable  one;  his  Appleby 
binders,  of  which  3000  were  made  and  sold  that  year,  swept 
everything  before  them.  The  harvest  of  that  year  was  a 
Waterloo  defeat  for  the  wire  binders,  and  immediately  there- 
after practically  all  harvester  manufacturers  rushed  for  cover 
under  the  Appleby  patents.  Mr.  Deering  won  a  complete 
victory;  he  established  twine  binding  machines  as  the  grain 
harvesters  of  the  time  and  of  the  future,  and  himself  as  the 
acknowledged  leader  in  the  movement. 

Mr.  Deering  was  not  satisfied  with  the  work  of  the  only 
twine  the  market  then  afforded.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  a 
single  strand  twine  made  from  manila  fiber,  and  induced 
Edwin  H.  Fitler,  a  Philadelphia  cordage  manufacturer,  to 
make  a  quantity  of  such  twine  at  Mr.  Deering's  risk.  How 
well  this  and  twine  made  from  other  hard  fibers  have  met  the 
requirements  is  well  known. 

From  1880  and  onward  Mr.  Deering's  progress  was  steadily 
and  sweepingly  upward.  The  shops  were  enlarged  year  after 
year,  and  new  departments  added  until  the  plant  became 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  complete  institutions  of  the  kind 
in  this  or  any  other  country.  In  1883  Mr.  Deering  had  the 
business  incorporated  under  the  title  Wm.  Deering  &  Co., 
and  subsequently  the  name  Deering  Harvester  Company  was 
adopted.  At  the  time  Mr.  Deering  retired  the  company 
employed  about  9000  operatives  at  its  Chicago  plant,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  army  of  general  agents,  traveling  salesmen 
and  other  employees  connected  with  its  branch  houses  scat- 
tered all  over  the  world. 

Mr.  Deering  came  into  the  harvester  business  later  than 
most  of  his  competitors,  and  without  any  former  training  as  a 
manufacturer  of  agricultural  implements;  consequently  his 
success,  by  which  in  comparatively  a  few  years  he  became  a 
leader  in  a  line  of  business  requiring  special  aptitude,  experi- 
ence, and  good  management,  was  remarkable.  But  his  father 
was  a  mechanic  and  his  early  interests  and  associations  were 
such  as  to  form  his  mind  for  this  great  work.  He  had  mani- 
fested unusual  capacity  to  make  combinations  and  manage 
large  enterprises  successfully  before  he  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  harvesters,  and  his  successful  career  as  a  business 
man  after  all  was  simply  the  result  of  the  prompt  application 
of  energy,  good  judgment,  and  strong  will  to  good  opportu- 
nities. 


William  Deennfj,  in  the  summi^fPTSBIlIFhis  death, 

with  his  son,  his  grandd  ul-Iui  r.  and 

his  great  granusua 


128  WILLIAM   DEERING 

The  year  1880  was  indeed  a  memorable  one;  his  Appleby 
binders,  of  which  3000  were  madt  and  sold  that  year,  swept 
everything  before  them.  The  harvest  of  that  year  was  a 
Waterloo  defeat  for  the  wire  binders,  and  immediately  there- 
after practically  all  harvester  manufacturers  rushed  for  cover 
under  the  Appleby  patents.  Mr.  Deering  won  a  complete 
victory;  he  established  twine  binding  machines  as  the  grain 
harvesters  of  the  time  and  of  the  future,  and  himself  as  the 
acknowledged  leader  in  the  movement. 

Mr.  Deering  was  not  satisfied  with  the  work  of  the  only 
twine  the  market  then  afforded.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  a 
single  strand  twine  made  from  manila  fiber,  and  induced 
Edwin  H.  Fitler,  a  Philadelphia  cordage  manufacturer,  to 
make  a  quantity  of  such  twine  at  Mr.  Deering's  risk.  How 
well  this  and  twine  made  from  other  hard  fibers  have  met  the 
requirements  is  well  known. 

From  1880  and  onward  Ml    ''  as  steadily 

and  sweepinglv.  upward.    Tl  .;|i;ear  after 

year,  aiVS^Iv^'4l??f#ftiief[W'^t.?  nSnt  became 

one  of  the  largfeflfe  ^twilgii:rfibcai8i '  ■'iiUs  of  the  kind 

in  this  or  any  other  ^oj^^ytf^^iuVr  •  L)eering  had  the 

business  incorporated  unoer  V.\l  .,  .  .n.  Deering  &  Co., 
and  subsequently  the  name  Deering  Harvester  Company  was 
adopted.  At  the  time  Mr.  Deering  retired  the  company 
employed  about  9000  operatives  at  its  Chicago  plant,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  army  of  general  agents,  traveling  salesmen 
and  other  employees  connected  with  its  branch  houses  scat- 
tered all  over  the  world. 

Mr.  Deering  came  into  the  harvester  business  later  than 
most  of  his  competitors,  and  without  any  former  training  as  a 
manufacturer  of  agricultural  implements;  consequently  his 
success,  by  which  in  comparatively  a  few  years  he  became  a 
leader  in  a  line  of  business  requiring  special  aptitude,  experi- 
ence, and  good  management,  was  remarkable.  But  his  father 
was  a  mechanic  and  his  early  interests  and  associations  were 
such  as  to  form  his  mind  for  this  great  work.  He  had  mani- 
fested unusual  capacity  combinations  and  manage 
large  enterprises  successi  ore  he  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  harvesters,  and  his  successful  career  as  a  business 
man  after  all  was  simply  the  result  of  the  prompt  application 
of  energy,  good  judgment,  and  strong  will  to  good  opportu- 
nities. 


WILLIAM   DEERING  129 

During  his  residence  in  Maine,  Mr.  Dcering,  without  heing 
a  politician,  took  an  active  part  and  interest  in  charitable  and 
public  affairs,  occupying  several  unsought  positions  under 
the  government  of  the  state  and  also  of  the  city  of  Portland. 
After  coming  to  Illinois  his  business  cares  and  perhaps  also 
his  inclination  prevented  him  from  giving  much  personal 
attention  to  political  matters,  except  such  as  his  duties  as  a 
citizen  enjoined.  He  was  largely  interested  in  church, 
educational,  and  charitable  objects,  to  all  of  which  he  gave 
generously  of  his  time  and  means. 

Portland  {Me.)  Evening  Express  and  Daily  Advertiser^ 
December  10,  1913 

Miami,  Fla.,  Dec.  10. — William  Deering,  founder  of  the 
Deering  Harvester  Company,  who  for  some  time  has  been 
ill  here,  died  at  a  late  hour  last  night.  Members  of  his  im- 
mediate family  were  with  him  at  the  time  of  his  death. 


It  was  in  1865  that  Mr.  Deering,  with  Seth  Milliken,  formed 
in  this  city  the  firm  of  Deering,  Milliken  &  Co.,  which  be- 
came one  of  the  largest  dry-goods  commission  houses  in  the 
country.  On  the  site  at  the  corner  of  Middle  and  Market 
streets,  a  few  years  ago  the  scene  of  one  of  Portland's  most 
disastrous  fires,  the  new  firm  commenced  business  in  August, 
1865,  as  successors  to  Storer,  Cutler  &  Co.  The  following 
year  the  firm  sufl^ered  by  the  big  fire  of  July  4,  1866,  which 
swept  their  young  establishment  away. 

Undaunted  by  the  discouraging  experience,  the  new  firm 
found  quarters  for  the  succeeding  nine  months  at  the  corner 
of  Commercial  and  Franklin  streets.  These  were  less  com- 
modious warerooms,  but  this  proved  no  barrier  to  the  exten- 
sion of  the  firm's  trade,  which  kept  steadily  increasing  so  that 
when  they  returned  to  their  original  site,  on  which  a  commo- 
dious building  had  been  erected,  in  this  respect  the  young 
merchants  were  ready  to  meet  the  demands  which  the  in- 
creased trade  was  making  upon  them. 

Mr.  Deering  retired  from  the  firm  in  1S69,  and  the  fol- 
lowing \ear  he  went  to  Chicago,  engaging  in  the  sale  of  farm 
machinery. 


130  WILLIAM   DEERING 

Among  the  benefactions  of  Mr.  Deering  was  a  generous 
contribution  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  South 
Paris,  where  the  last  session  of  the  Maine  Conference  was 
held  last  April.  As  the  result  of  his  gift  a  fine  stone  church 
edifice  was  built,  this  being  named  the  Deering  Memorial 
Church,  in  memory  of  Mr.  Deering's  father. 

The  Custer  County  Chief,  Broken  Bozv,  Nebraska,  December 

26, 1913 

The  death  of  William  Deering,  which  occurred  in  Miami, 
Florida,  a  few  days  ago,  removes  one  of  the  nation's  great 
financiers  and  a  man  who  has  no  doubt  done  more  to 
develop  and  perfect  the  grain  harvester  than  any  other  one 
man. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  the  readers  of  the  Chief  to  know 
that  Mr.  L.  H.  Jewett,  of  the  Security  State  Bank,  of  this 
city,  commenced  his  business  career  in  the  office  of  William 
Deering. 

Mr.  Jewett  spoke  of  William  Deering  as  a  man  of  great 
foresight.  "He  seemed  to  have  a  clear  conception  of  the 
future  possibilities  of  the  development  of  this  country. 
At  the  time  I  occupied  the  position  of  cashier,  Mr.  Deer- 
ing was  worth  probably  ten  millions  of  dollars,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death  his  fortune  had  reached  much  larger 
figures. 

"I  recall  an  instance  where  he  left  the  city  on  the  day  previ- 
ous to  pay  day.  He  had  forgotten  to  arrange  his  money 
matters  so  I  could  draw  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  and 
pay  the  help.  Mr.  Deering  discovered  the  oversight  while 
on  the  train  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  he  got  out  of  the 
sleeping  berth  and  at  the  next  station  took  another  train 
back  to  Chicago  that  the  men  should  not  be  disappointed  on 
pay  day. 

"Mr.  Deering  always  gave  for  charitable  purposes  when  he 
was  sure  that  the  cause  was  a  worthy  one.  It  was  my  duty, 
during  the  greater  portion  of  my  association  with  him,  to 
guard  his  door,  my  desk  being  in  the  room  adjoining  his,  and 
those  who  reached  him  had  to  first  pass  me.  Mr.  Deering 
was  a  great  Methodist,  but  notwithstanding  this  fact  he  left 
standing  orders  that  Sisters  of  Charity  should  always  enter 
his  room  unannounced.     I  recall  asking  him  one  day  why  it 


WILLIAM   DEERIXG  131 

was  that  he,  being  a  Methodist,  made  a  rule  to  always  give 
to  the  Sisters,  and  he  told  me  that  in  contributing  to  them 
he  was  sure  that  the  money  would  be  well  expended.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  he  injected  business  judgment  into  his 
charity  work. 

"I  recall  that  at  one  time  fire  wiped  out  a  portion  of  the  new 
factory  and  the  entire  north  side  fire  department  was  called 
out.  It  was  a  bitter  cold  night,  and  by  the  time  the  flames 
were  extinguished  the  firemen  were  encased  in  mud  and  ice. 
Mr.  Deering  was  a  very  temperate  man,  but  on  this  occasion 
he  seemed  at  once  to  realize  what  was  the  proper  thing  to  do, 
and  he  instructed  me  to  see  that  no  firemen  paid  for  anything 
that  was  purchased  over  the  bars  of  the  saloons  in  that  part 
of  the  city  during  that  night.  He  requested,  however,  that 
refreshments  be  served  with  coflf^ee  instead  of  intoxicating 
liquors,  and  his  suggestion  was  gracefully  accepted  by  both 
saloon-keepers  and  firemen. 

"The  fire  occurred  the  very  night  that  the  firemen  received 
their  monthly  pay,  and  during  the  progress  of  the  fire  one 
of  the  firemen  lost  his  money,  amounting  to  seventy  dollars. 
Mr.  Deering  heard  of  this  and  replaced  the  amount,  and  also 
instructed  me  to  draw  a  check  to  be  turned  into  the  fire- 
men's relief  fund. 

"In  1 88 1,  during  the  terrible  smallpox  siege  in  Chicago,  Mr. 
Deering  provided  a  hospital  for  those  in  his  employ  who  got 
the  disease.  He  stood  the  funeral  expenses  of  those  who  died 
and  provided  for  the  families  of  those  of  his  men  who  suc- 
cumbed to  the  disease. 

"It  was  while  I  was  with  Mr.  Deering  that  Mr.  Appleby 
was  perfecting  the  twine  binder.  He  was  given  a  corner 
in  one  of  the  factory  rooms  to  work  on  his  new  invention. 

"When  Mr.  Appleby  completed  his  invention,  Mr.  Deering 
arranged  with  him  to  secure  full  control  of  the  patent.  Mr. 
Gammon,  who  was  then  a  partner  of  Deering,  objected 
to  this  deal;  and,  owing  to  the  delay  occasioned  thereby, 
Appleby  secured  other  offers.  Later  on,  Mr.  Deering 
was  able  to  secure  only  a  shop  right.  This  transaction 
has  since  impressed  me  with  the  wonderful  foresight  of 
William  Deering.  It  was,  no  doubt,  Mr.  Gammon's  ob- 
jection to  the  consummation  of  this  deal  that  finally  led 
to  the  dissolution  of  partnership,  which  followed  shortly 
after. 


132  WILLIAM   DEERING 

"It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  after  my  years  of  intimate 
association  with  William  Deering,  I  was  deeply  touched  when 
I  learned  of  his  death." 

Portland  {Me.)  Argus,  December  12,  1913 

Of  the  late  William  Deering,  founder  of  the  Deering  Har- 
vester Company  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  International 
Harvester  Company,  the  New  York  World  says: 

"Tothenameof  Deering,  as  to  that  of  McCormick,mustbe 
assigned  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  development  of  the 
United  States  as  a  wheat-growing  country.  Without  the 
self-binder  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  the  western  harvests 
could  ever  have  been  gathered. 

"It  was  the  machine  that  solved  the  problem  of  labor  on  the 
prairies,  where  the  supply  was  certain  to  be  always  short  at 
the  critical  season  of  the  year.  It  was  the  machine  that  made 
it  possible  for  the  farmer  to  sow  more  acres  and  to  reap  larger 
crops  than  he  could  ever  have  harvested  otherwise.  In  his 
hands  it  was  the  key  to  prosperity.  How  much  it  has  con- 
tributed to  the  wealth  of  the  nation  is  not  to  be  calculated, 
nor  in  what  measure  it  has  helped  in  the  feeding  of  the  world." 

Among  the  sons  of  Maine  who  have  added  to  the  wealth 
and  welfare,  material  or  intellectual,  of  the  country,  the  name 
of  William  Deering  will  hold  a  conspicuous  place. 

Racine  {Wis.)  Call,  December  ij,  1913 

The  death  and  burial  of  William  Deering  this  week  recalls 
to  all  older  men  and  women  the  early  days  in  the  history  of 
American  farming.  Fifty  years  ago  many  farmers  in  Wis- 
consin were  reaping  large  areas  of  wheat  with  the  sickle, 
wielded  by  their  own  hands.  What  an  advance  when  the 
sickle  was  made  to  move  back  and  forth  by  machinery,  and 
man  was  saved  many  a  weary  day's  work  with  the  rude  hand 
tool ! 

But  the  old  hand-raking  machine!  Who  does  not  imagine 
what  it  means  to  bend  over  an  upright  post  and  almost 
at  arm's  length  remove  the  bundle  from  the  platform? 
Then  came  the  self-raker,  in  one  case  a  sort  of  endless  chain 
which  carried  a  set  of  forks  so  arranged  that  they  gathered 
the  straw  into  bundles  and  threw  them  to  the  ground.    But 


WILLIAM   DEERING  133 

that  was  too  primitive  for  American  ingenuit}-,  and  now  we 
are  taken  to  the  harvest  field  when  we  want  to  see  some  of  the 
crowning  achievements  of  the  human  brain. 

But  Mr.  Deering  was  something  more  than  a  wide-awake 
manufacturer  of  farm  machinery.  He  loved  his  fellow-men 
and  saw  to  it  that  while  alive  others  shared  with  him  the 
profits  of  his  hand  and  brain.  It  is  a  good  record  connected 
with  the  name  of  Deering. 

The  Economist,  Chicago,  Illinois,  December  ij,  igij 

In  the  death  of  William  Deering  this  city  and  vicinity 
loses  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  most  highly  respected 
citizens.  His  life  began  April  25,  1826,  and  he  came  of  Puri- 
tan stock.  He  was  a  native  of  Maine,  and,  coming  west, 
acquired  his  great  fortune  and  his  standing  as  a  citizen  by 
intelligent  and  persistent  labor  in  his  chosen  line,  which  was 
the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements.  In  that  de- 
partment of  industry  he  was  one  of  the  two  or  three  famous 
men  in  the  world.  He  was  a  man  of  large  charities  and  all- 
around  usefulness.  In  recent  years  he  has  been  in  retire- 
ment. The  business  of  which  he  was  the  head  passed  into 
the  International  Harvester  Company  in  1902. 

St.  Paul  (Minn.)  Pioneer  Press,  December  11,  iqij 

William  Deering,  the  multimillionaire  ha,rvester  manu- 
facturer who  died  at  Miami,  Florida,  Tuesday  night,  left 
property  in  Minnesota. 

Mr.  Deering  owned  the  fee  title  to  the  Security  National 
Bank  building  in  Minneapolis  at  Second  Avenue  South  and 
Fourth  Street.  He  also  held  a  mortgage  on  the  Radisson 
Hotel  in  Minneapolis,  and  was  possessed  of  considerable 
other  property  in  that  city  and  throughout  the  state. 

"Mr.  Deering  was  the  type  of  a  man  who  did  not  wish  to 
evade  taxes,"  said  a  prominent  man  yesterday.  "The  man- 
ager of  his  property  in  Minneapolis  told  me  that  when  the 
Security  Bank  building  was  constructed  he  was  advised  to 
form  a  corporation  and  transfer  the  title  to  it  in  order  to 
relieve  the  estate  of  the  inheritance  tax  upon  his  death.  He 
refused  to  do  this,  saying  that  he  had  made  much  of  his 
money  in  Minnesota  and  did  not  object  to  leaving  some  of  it 
here  on  his  death." 


134  WILLIAM   DEERING 

London  Times 

A  Reuter  telegram  from  Chicago  announces  the  death  of 
Mr.  William  Deering,  the  founder  of  the  harvester  business. 

Mr.  Deering,  who  was  born  in  1826,  was  for  a  time  en- 
gaged in  the  wholesale  dry-goods  business  at  Portland, 
Maine,  but  in  1870  he  entered  the  business  established  for 
the  manufacture  of  the  Marsh  harvester  and  greatly  extended 
it  by  new  patents  and  the  use  of  improved  manufacturing 
methods.  The  business  was  removed  from  Piano,  Illinois, 
to  Chicago  in  1880,  and  was  ultimately  merged  in  the  Inter- 
national Harvesting  Company.  Mr.  Deering  retired  from 
active  business  in  1901. 

Le  Figaro,  Dimanche,  14  December  191 3 

Nous  apprenons  la  mort  de  Mr.  William  Deering,  de 
Chicago,  decede  dans  sa  propriete  d'hiver  dans  la  Florida. 

Mr^  Deering  est  une  des  plus  grandes  figures  industrielles 
des  Etats-Unis.  Fondateur  de  la  celebre  industrie  des 
machines  agricoles  qui  porte  son  nom,  il  fut  avec  son  contem- 
porain  Cyrus  McCormick,  un  des  plus  puissants  facteurs 
du  formidable  developpement  agricole  de  son  pays. 

La  fusion  des  grands  fabricants  americains  avait  donne 
naissance  a  la  "International  Harvester  Company,"  c'est- 
a-dire  la  plus  considerable  agglomeration  d'usines  de  ma- 
chines agricoles  au  monde  et  dont  les  etablissements  indus- 
triels,  en  dehors  des  Etats-Unis,  comprennent  ceux  du  Can- 
ada, de  la  France,  de  I'Allemagne,  de  la  Russie,  etc.,  etc. 
C'etait  la  derniere  grande  oeuvre  a  laquelle  William  Deering 
fut  associe.  La  severite  de  sa  vie,  autant  que  sa  bonte  fut 
proverbiale.  Mr.  William  Deering  etait  officier  de  la  Le- 
gion d'honneur. 

Melbourne  {Australia)  Herald,  December  12,  1913 

The  Times  to-day  reports  the  death  of  Mr.  William 
Deering,  founder  of  the  harvester  business,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven.  Death  occurred  in  Florida.  Mr.  Deering  as 
a  youth  was  engaged  in  a  woolen  mill,  a;nd  later  in  the  dry- 
goods  business.  He  established  his  harvester  works  at  Piano, 
Illinois,  in  1873.  H^  was  president  of  the  Deering  Harvester 
Company  and  of  William  Deering  &  Co.,  and  a  director  of 
the  International  Harvester  Company. 


WILLIAM    DEERING  135 

Scientific  Americariy  December  20,  igij 

In  the  death  of  William  Deering,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
International  Harvester  Company  and  himself  long  the 
head  of  the  Deering  Harvester  Compan\-,  the  American 
machinery  industry  loses  one  of  its  most  conspicuous  figures. 

Originally  a  dry-goods  manufacturer  and  merchant, 
Mr.  Deering  eventually  migrated  to  Chicago,  where  in  1870 
he  met  E.  H.  Gammon,  who  had  bought  the  rights  to  manu- 
facture a  harvester.  Three  years  later  Mr.  Deering  became 
the  active  head  of  the  enterprise.  Gammon  told  Deering 
that  a  machine  was  needed  which  would  bind  sheaves  of 
wheat  as  they  were  cut.  Deering  began  work  upon  this,  and 
with  J.  F.  Appleby  produced  the  binder  that  is  still  in  use. 

Deering  is  one  of  the  men  to  whom  America  should  be 
grateful  for  his  achievements.  It  was  his  self-binder  that 
made  it  really  possible  to  harvest  wheat  without  the  aid 
of  much  manual  labor  and  that  places  the  name  of  Deering 
beside  that  of  McCormick.  How  much  the  Deering  binder 
has  contributed  to  our  agricultural  prosperity  no  one  can 
even  guess. 


